Dell plans to open a second production base in China as part of a spending spree it said could top $100 billion in 10 years, expanding into the country's less-developed but rapidly growing western region.
Dell's new manufacturing and sales base, in the major city of Chengdu, should be up and running by 2011 and house some 3,000 staff eventually, the world's third-largest PC maker said on Thursday.
Foreign players from Hewlett-Packard to Acer have made inroads in past years into what is now the world's second-largest personal computer market.
Dell, which said it commands 9 percent of that market, plans to support its expansion in the country by hiring 500 staff at its current operations base in the southeastern coastal city of Xiamen.
The company's revenues in China have surged 11 times from 2000 to 2010, and grew 52 percent in the last fiscal quarter, it said.
Including hiring, research, construction and procurement from local suppliers, Dell estimates it could spend more than $100 billion over the next decade in its largest market by revenue outside of the United States.
"Our new operations there will better position Dell for additional growth opportunities in western China," said Amit Midha, Dell's China president.
