Striving for greater customer responsiveness and strengthening its operational foundation in the world's second largest PC market, Lenovo today announced plans to start up a U.S. manufacturing line in Whitsett, N.C., near Greensboro, early next year. This line will create 115 new manufacturing jobs, while building Think-branded notebook and desktop PCs, tablets, engineering workstations and servers for sale to North American businesses, government and education customers, and consumers.



Creating a U.S. manufacturing line defies a trend that has seen electronics production jobs migrate out of the country for more than two decades. With this capability closer to North American customers, Lenovo will increase its operational flexibility to provide a differentiated experience that includes even faster and more reliable product delivery in many situations, as well as access to a broader and more valuable set of services.



"Lenovo is establishing a U.S. manufacturing base because we believe in the long-term strength of the American PC market and our own growth opportunities here," said Yuanqing Yang, chairman & CEO, Lenovo. "As Lenovo expands globally, we are establishing even deeper roots in each major market. In addition to localized sales and marketing teams, in our major countries we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint, investing in R&D and ensuring that we hire top local talent. This global reach with local excellence helps us become even faster, more innovative and more responsive to our customers around the world."



"Having a facility here in a home country is a differentiator that people will value," David Schmoock, president, Lenovo North America, told The Wall Street Journal.



The new U.S. PC manufacturing line will be located within Lenovo's recently expanded 240,000-square-foot U.S. Distribution Center. It will support some of Lenovo's newest and most innovative products, Including the ThinkCentre M92p Tiny desktop and ThinkPad Tablet 2.



Several high-level government officials from North Carolina praised Lenovo's investment in the state's people and economy:



"Lenovo's decision to create electronics manufacturing jobs in North Carolina is a tremendous vote of confidence in the great skills and productivity of our state's workforce," commented North Carolina Governor Bev Perdue.



"I congratulate Lenovo on their growth and on making the wise decision to invest in North Carolina and in our state's workforce," added U.S. Senator Richard Burr. "I am proud of Lenovo for recognizing the talent and the potential here in North Carolina."



The Whitsett line also is the latest investment in Lenovo's aggressive strategy to expand its in-house manufacturing capabilities around the world. Over the past two years, the company has invested in new plants and manufacturing joint ventures in China, Brazil and now the United States to produce PCs and mobile Internet devices such as smartphones.

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