China to take notebook crown
Published: 06 Aug 2003 12:20 BST
China is expected to displace Taiwan as the world’s largest notebook PC manufacturer by the end of the year, according to market research firm IMS Research.
The firm, based in the UK, reports that notebook PC production has exploded over the past year. Most major foreign notebook PC makers have either completed or are starting to relocate their factories to China.
The plants, owned mainly by Taiwanese firms, will churn out 20 million units this year, more than 50 percent of total worldwide volume.
Some basic design work follows the move to China, but notebook R&D operations will remain at companies' headquarters, most of which are in Taiwan, said Ann Bird, China market analyst at IMS Research.
China’s largest notebook PC production base in Suzhou, a province in eastern China. An annual output close to 10 million units -- about a quarter of the world’s total output -- is manufactured there, according to a report from official news agency Xinhua.
Taiwan’s leading nine companies have established plants in Suzhou, including Uniwell Computer, Acer and Mitac International.
Korean electronics giant Samsung also plans to locate its notebook computer production line in Suzhou.
Suzhou’s electronics manufacturing sector has surpassed its tourism industry -- formerly the most active areas of its economy -- to become the top revenue earner. Forty percent of the total manufacturing revenue comes from the investment of 700 Taiwanese firms, said Xinhua
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