Dell to open new PC plant in United States

ROUND ROCK, Texas--Dell will announce within weeks a plan to build a new manufacturing plant in the United States, as other PC makers continue to send such work overseas, CEO Kevin Rollins said Tuesday in a wide-ranging interview with CNET News.com.

"We'll announce in the next month or two new capacity here in the U.S., and in the next few years, we're going to need new manufacturing capacity in Europe and Asia, too," Rollins said. Asked about reports that the plant could be located in North Carolina, Rollins said rumors about the expansion were, in general, "more accurate than not."

Dell, based here, shipped the most computers in the world during the third quarter and will need to expand its manufacturing capacity in order to keep up with its market share and revenue goals.

Dell CEO Kevin Rollins (click to enlarge)

The company has a stated goal of reaching $60 billion or more in annual revenue over time. To hit that mark, the company will have to increase its share of the PC market to nearly 30 percent from approximately 18 percent, the company has said, thus requiring it to ramp up output.

In the interview, Rollins also touched on a number of topics, including the following:

• Consumer electronics will be an important, but not huge, part of Dell's business in the future. The sector currently accounts for only about 15 percent of Dell's revenue. Although the company has begun to sell more electronics products, prices and profits will remain low. Apple Computer's iPod, Rollins said, has been one of the notable exceptions to the grinding pressure of consumer electronics.

"If you look at the largest CE manufacturers, they are all doing terrible," Rollins said. "They are all selling a lot of doodads, but they aren't doing that well...The industry is fundamentally challenged."

Nonetheless, Dell will continue to come out with new TVs and to drive prices lower. "I'd like to see a plasma TV below $1,000," Rollins said. Dell's current 42-inch plasma TV sells for $3,400.

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