For over two decades personal computer manufacturing has been migrating from the U.S. and Europe to China, Taiwan and southeast Asian countries. In an attempt to revert the trend, Lenovo Group on Tuesday said that it would start up a U.S. personal computer production line in Whitsett, North Carolina, thus bringing manufacturing of select personal computers and servers back to the U.S.

“As Lenovo expands globally, we are establishing even deeper roots in each major market.  In addition to localized sales and marketing teams, in our major countries we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint, investing in R&D and ensuring that we hire top local talent.  This global reach with local excellence helps us become even faster, more innovative and more responsive to our customers around the world,” said Yuanqing Yang, chairman and chief executive officer of Lenovo.

The manufacturing line will produce Think-branded notebook and desktop PCs, tablets, engineering workstations and servers for sale to domestic businesses, government and education customers, as well as consumers. Considering the fact that many U.S. government organizations demand the systems to be made in the country, the production line will help Lenovo to win supply contracts with such organizations.

The new U.S. PC manufacturing line currently is under construction and scheduled to open early in 2013.  It will reside within Lenovo’s recently expanded 240 thousand square-foot U.S. distribution center in Whitsett, North Carolina, approximately 10 miles east of Greensboro.  Hiring for the 115 manufacturing and related positions should begin later this year.

The U.S. manufacturing line will be capable of turning out some of Lenovo’s newest and most innovative products, such as the recently announced ThinkCentre M92p Tiny desktop and ThinkPad Tablet 2. Lenovo believes that having a manufacturing capacity in the U.S. can provide the capability to deliver products to customers even more quickly and reliably in many situations, while offering an even broader and more valuable set of PC-related services.

The U.S. PC production line is the latest investment in Lenovo’s aggressive strategy to expand its in-house manufacturing capabilities around the world, which the company believes will speed product innovation and support rapid business growth.  Over the past two years, Lenovo has invested in new plants and manufacturing joint ventures in China, Brazil and now the United States to produce PCs and mobile Internet devices, such as smartphones.

Tags: Lenovo, ThinkPad, ThinkCentre