Lexmark opens two mainland printer units

Lexmark International has established two mainland plants to manufacture inkjet printers, which will be distributed globally through a new Hong Kong centre.

With the help of mainland partners, Lexmark - the sixth-largest printer vendor in the world - contracted existing facilities in Shenzhen and Shanghai to make its products.

'These are not Lexmark plants with Lexmark employees,' said Don Shropshire, company vice-president and general manager for the Asia-Pacific, Canada and Latin America regions.

'We are in partnership with other corporations,' he said, but declined to name the firms involved.

The joint-venture plants, which began making Lexmark inkjets last month, are manufacturing new product lines. One will be the company's least expensive model, targeted towards home and small businesses while the other was described by Mr Shropshire as 'an advanced, high-end product', likely to be aimed towards corporate users.

'We see inkjet printers, over time, moving into the corporate marketplace,' said Peter O'Meara, Asia-Pacific president of Lexmark.

Company executives refused to reveal the production capacity of the mainland plants, but said that of the printers turned out from the facilities, about 25 per cent would be destined for Asia-Pacific markets, with the rest headed for the remainder of the global market.