Dell Computer Corp, Austin has announced plans to set up a manufacturing facility in Malaysia, saying that it will eventually produce 100,000 machines a quarter for sale to the Asia Pacific region. The company says it expects to buy a nine-acre site on Penang, and is putting a plant in Malaysia because it is forecast that a third of the world personal computer market, and Dell’s own growing market share, will come from the region by 1997. Work on the Malaysian plant is expected to start in two months, with completion six to nine months later, and it should employ some 400 within five years. A new company, Computer Direct Sdn Bhd will be established to run what will be Dell’s first major manufacturing unit in Asia, although it operates a small facility in Tokyo.
