Dell has opened a facility in Singapore to design products including projectors and TV sets.
The design center, announced Thursday, marks the latest example of U.S. technology companies performing higher-level tasks abroad--a trend that raises concerns about the United States losing its edge in technology.
Dell declined to say how many employees will work at the Singapore center. But the company said it will focus on display and imaging products, and will join four other design centers that Dell has set up in Taiwan, China, India and the United States.
"Singapore offers a robust technology ecosystem, with the right elements in place--a highly skilled, highly educated talent pool that's relevant to our needs; a pro-business environment; sound infrastructure and good connectivity; well-regulated yet flexible financial infrastructure; and sound intellectual property management and protection policies," Dell Chief Executive Kevin Rollins said in a statement.
The Singapore location offers other benefits too, according to Dell. "With Singapore being one of our key regional bases since 1995, we are able to leverage our corporate infrastructure that's already in place," Rollins said. "We can also maintain our competitiveness by being near where we source key technologies used in our displays and imaging products. Being close to our supplier base lets us reap the benefits of streamlined sourcing and distribution, translating into value products at competitive pricing to customers in Singapore as well as in other parts of the world."
Dell has been noted for focusing more on manufacturing efficiency than research and development. Still, the Texas-based company said the team in Singapore joins more than 4,000 engineering professionals at Dell worldwide.
Dell spokeswoman Jennifer Richard declined to say how many design engineers work in the United States.
Dell is hardly the only U.S.-based technology company conducting research or development-type activities abroad. Motorola, Microsoft, IBM and Hewlett-Packard are among those that do so. At the same time, some leading companies in the PC and mobile phone industries hail from Asia, such as Korea-based Samsung.
Given this state of affairs, along with the shift of much software programming work to India especially, some analysts worry about the United States ceding its longstanding dominance in the realm of computer technology.
Asked about whether the new design center represented a blow to U.S. technology leadership, Richard argued that the company has a global perspective. "The Singapore design center and our other design centers in fact are very much part of Dell's strategy to expand our business and expand our business around the world," she said.
Dell has a goal of reaching $80 billion in revenue within three to four years. The company expects 55 percent of the revenue growth to come from international markets.
"We have customers in every part of the world," Richard said. "It makes sense to reach those customers in whatever is the most efficient and cost-effective way."
This pattern continues yes. American corporations are not American anymore. They do not care about country, but only about profit. They are like locusts, following the money around the globe, and then tossing the next country like a dried-out beer can!! They are evil.
...but companies need to please stockholders. There is only so much growth that you can get in one country, and while shipping is relativly cheap, there are advantages in spreading manufacturing and develepment. What would you propose?
I am typing this on a Gateway Laptop. I compared a Dell & a Gateway & found the same Gateway to be about far cheaper (about $1,500 instead of $2,000) - turns out Gateway even goes as far as shipping components out to China, for final assembly, in order to save money.
So, the customer too, benefits from offshoring.
I'd like to say I'm noble & stuck to my principles. But being unemployed, $500 is a helluvalot of money. BTW - I'm a software developer & I'm unemployed, because MY job got offshored for the second time in 3 years. Plenty of other people, would rather save money, than keep work in the USA.
if the company dosent outsource and get more profits, they will eventually lose out to those companies based in asia where there is cheaper employment, etc. There has been a few All Their-own-county companies meeting into financial problems. Besides, setting up a design center is to tap the countries skilled people. When the company reaps profits, the country's economy will grow(in this case the US). But if the company closes, thousands will lose thier jobs and the economy might be crippled. Now that is cruel.
OH, yes....lets save money. All corporations see is making maximum profits A.S.A.P. When the grandiose plan of the NAFTA and all following free-trade agreements were presented 15 years ago, Ross Perot warned us about the giant sucking sound that would be coming. This was at the same time that the first Bush mentioned something about a "new world order". Were any of you around then? Remember? Yes you can argue in favor of the cheaper price at Best Buy for your laptop. But look at the real hidden costs.
In order for NAFTA to be any good, legistlation has to distinguish NAFTA nations from non-NAFTA. Instead of giving incentives to companies to offshore across the world, limit it to NAFTA - as soon as there are jobs in Mexico that provide a good living, there will be less incentive to cross illegally into the US. Then we need to be allowed to (re)import drugs from Canada - these are the same drugs exported there, in the first place FFS.
NAFTA only works if we distinguish between NAFTA & non-NAFTA. That's how the EU works, they protect EU nations, to the exclusion of non-EU nations (as far as the WTO allows).
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EnerG2 opens a plant to make an engineered carbon that will improve performance of energy storage devices and make storage for start-stop hybrid cars less expensive.
So, the customer too, benefits from offshoring.
I'd like to say I'm noble & stuck to my principles. But being unemployed, $500 is a helluvalot of money. BTW - I'm a software developer & I'm unemployed, because MY job got offshored for the second time in 3 years. Plenty of other people, would rather save money, than keep work in the USA.
NAFTA only works if we distinguish between NAFTA & non-NAFTA. That's how the EU works, they protect EU nations, to the exclusion of non-EU nations (as far as the WTO allows).
- Mohan Babu, Author
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