Posted on 10/01/2001 6:07:59 PM PDT by MeneMeneTekelUpharsin
By John Pletz – Austin American Staff
If you want a clue about where Dell Computer Corp. might be headed next, look to Mexico. Gov. Fernando Canales Clariond of Nuevo León, whose capital is Monterrey, says Dell began exploring "a special project" with officials there about three months ago. Canales said he expects to "hear something soon" about it. He said he’d been asked by the company not to reveal any specifics.
A move to Mexico would make sense for Dell. The main reason high-tech companies, like auto manufacturers before them, set up in Mexico is simple: cheap labor that is fairly close to home markets. That’s especially important to computer makers, who have seen demand weaken and profits shrink. Sources within the company say Dell appears to have settled on a location near Monterrey. Another person outside the company, who is familiar with the project but spoke only on condition that he not be identified, also said Monterrey was on Dell’s short list.
Monterrey has advantages for Dell: It is nestled agains the Sierra Madre mountains two hours south of Laredo and about six hours from Austin, which could minimize logistical problems of shipping computers back to the United States. Dell doesn’t deny looking around Mexico. But spokeswoman Cathie Hargett says Dell’s primary interest in Mexico is the growing Latin American market.
"We’re always looking for ways to manage our growth," she adds. "Mexico is one possibility among many." Agains the backdrop of massive layoffs that have eliminated 23 percent of Dell’s jobs in Austin and Round Rock, rumors have been flying for months that the company was considering moving some of its less profitable manufacturing, such as corporate desktops, to Mexico. Hargett cautioned that if Dell was planning anything in Mexico, it wouldn’t be to replace Central Texas operations, where this year the company has cut more than 5,000 jobs.
"Our focus is on incremental growth," she said. "Anything we might be considering would be capacity to augment operations rather than replace operations."
LOL!!!
Hey Michael - ask around, you get what you pay for.
For those who don't know - one of the biggest area's of growth for Dell is Latin America. The Tennesse and Texas plants will still service NAmerica - but the Mexico plant will service SAmerica.
And anybody familiar with Dell will understand "it's not about price, it's about cost" - and that's what drives their decision.
Ya assembling computers now there's a real hi-tech job.
if it's about cost? then why didn't Dell sell AMD processors with DDRAM along with their P4 RDRAM systems?
Every other major PC company until recently sold AMD systems.
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