In response to tariffs, HP last year required its foundries to accelerate their "de-China" layout. The main foundries Quanta and Inventec have successively moved their production bases to Thailand, and the relocation of the supply chain segment has become a foregone conclusion. The report also mentioned that Inventec originally planned to assist HP in producing notebook computers in Mexico, but HP decided to move its main production base to Thailand. Inventec therefore urgently rented local factories to consolidate customer orders.
Inventec announced at the end of 2023 that it would invest US$152 million to build a new factory in Thailand, which will produce notebook computers, servers, etc., of which notebook computer production capacity is expected to be completed this quarter.
Yin Fuming, general manager of Inventec's personal computer business group, recently stated that the production capacity of the Thailand factory will be further strengthened. In the future, the total production capacity will be equivalent to that of the Chongqing factory, and can produce about 20 million laptops per year. This will effectively disperse production risks and cope with the uncertainty of US tariff policies.
It has been reported before that HP is negotiating with suppliers to move more than half of its personal computer production out of China in the next two to three years.
In response, HP said that the company "occasionally moves certain production to other locations to achieve flexibility and reduce risk to customers."