Lenovo will add manufacturing operations to a distribution center in the U.S. early next year, creating over 100 new American jobs.
Lenovo, a China-based PC maker that is co-headquartered in Beijing, Singapore and North Carolina, is expanding its operations in Whitsett, North Carolina. This expansion will involve the addition of a manufacturing line to its Whitsett order fulfillment and distribution center.
The Whitsett distribution center, which was opened in 2008, will see 115 new job openings with the new manufacturing line. It will cost Lenovo $2 million to put it together, and will begin hiring later this year. However, the manufacturing line won't start running until early next year.
The Whitsett plant currently has 160
full-time employees and covers about 250,000 square feet in the town. Once the manufacturing line is in place, it will produce Think-brand laptops, notebooks and tablets.
Lenovo isn't receiving any local or state incentives to expand in the NC town.
The expansion into manufacturing in North Carolina could be beneficial for both Lenovo and the state. Lenovo will be able to deliver products to customers more quickly and efficiently, and North Carolina, which had a 9.7 percent unemployment rate as of August, could really use the jobs.
Lenovo entered the U.S. market in 2005 when it acquired IBM's PC business. According to David Schmoock, president of Lenovo's North American business, the Whitsett expansion "reflects our confidence in the U.S. PC market" and was "based on customer demand."
Windows 8 or not, though, Lenovo is already doing pretty well for itself. In August, the company reported
impressive Q1 2012 earnings with a net income increase of 30 percent year-over-year to $141 million. The PC maker also increased computer shipments during the quarter by 24.4 percent compared to Q1 2011.
