New Flextronics facility signals push into media tablets

Flextronics International has marked its expansion into the red-hot market for media tablets, such as the iPad, with the launch on the mainland of its most advanced manufacturing and design centre for computer products.

The world's second-biggest electronics manufacturing services provider opened its new facility inside the Wuzhong Export Processing Zone in Suzhou, Jiangsu province, on Thursday.

The facility will deliver complete design and production capabilities for desktops, laptops and so-called 'all-in-one computers', tablets and internet-ready smartphones.

Sean Burke, president for the firm's computing business, described the cost of building the facility as 'sizeable'. It measures more than nine hectares, with top-notch staff living quarters and work areas, and an energy-saving system. It also has a production capacity of 1 million units a month, and will grow to have more than 12,000 engineering and manufacturing employees.

'This is our most advanced computing-focused factory,' Burke said.

He said the facility's core infrastructure could also be swiftly retooled to build different lines of computing products. That meant faster time to market and cost savings for customers, who also benefited from the new facility's strategic alignment with Singapore-based Flextronics' other computing plants in Beijing, Shanghai and Wujiang, Jiangsu province.

The company operates in 30 countries and has a total of 18 manufacturing sites and three research and development centres at seven mainland locations.