That initiative by Dell, which was ranked by research firm IDC as the world’s third-largest PC vendor in the third quarter last year, forms part of the Texas-based company’s efforts to diversify its manufacturing supply chain outside China, according to a report on Thursday by Nikkei Asia, which cited people with direct knowledge of the matter.
Dell’s goal is to have all of the chips used in its products, including those produced by foreign suppliers in China, to be sourced from outside the country by 2024, the report said.
Dell is also expected to move about 50 per cent of its production out of the world’s second-largest economy by 2025, according to a separate report by Taiwanese financial newspaper Commercial Times.
Those developments come after the Biden administration’s move last October to implement updates that further restrict China’s ability to obtain advanced computing chips, develop and maintain supercomputers, and manufacture advanced semiconductors used in military applications, including weapons of mass destruction.Covid-19 outbreaks test China’s position at centre of global supply chain
Dell, which started direct sales to China in 1995 and began selling its PCs to local retail stores from 2007, has certain laptop models assembled on the mainland by electronics contract manufacturers.
While emphasising China’s importance as a major market, Dell said in a statement that it was committed to pursue global supply chain diversification “to best meet our customers’ and partners’ needs and expectations”.
Dell, according to the Nikkei Asia report, has asked its components suppliers, including those that make printed circuit boards and modules, to bolster their production capacity in countries like Vietnam.
PC makers look to diversify as China’s zero-Covid puts them ‘to the test’
Dell was China’s second-largest PC vendor in the third quarter last year, when it shipped 1.53 million units for an 11.7 per cent market share, according to a report published last month by tech research firm Canalys. Lenovo Group remained the market leader, with shipments of nearly 5 million units and a 38.2 per cent market share in the same period.ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tK%2FMqWWcp51kwaavx2iZop9dqbKktI6aqa2hk6GycH%2BRaWxwbGBkwrR5wqikqa2kmr9us8iapa1llJq5rXnRnqelmZOaeqK4y2aaoaGelnqurcOeZJygmaXAbrXTrGSpqp%2BZwqTA0mZpaWpkYq6utcNmq56mo568r7%2BMm5ytr5Wau26uxKKhoqaX