Sony Ericsson, one of the world's major mobile phone
manufacturers, started construction of a new factory Monday in
Beijing in a move to make China its global manufacturing base.
The new factory, covering an area of 18,500 square meters, will
manufacture mobile handsets and assemble surface mounted circuit
boards to meet growing market demand.
Gunilla Nordstrom, president of Sony Ericsson China, said the
establishment of the new factory would contribute to the
consolidation of China's status as the company's strategic
development base.
China is Sony Ericsson's sole strategic development base whose
business covers design, manufacturing, sourcing, research and
development, as well as global sales and marketing, she said.
The new plant is located between the company's other two
factories, Beijing Se Putian Mobile Communications (BMC), which
covers 25,610 square meters and produces mobile handsets, and
Beijing Suohong Electronics (BSE), which covers 12,000 square
meters and manufactures printed circuit boards.
After raising its stake in BMC to 51 percent in 2004 and then
acquiring BSE last November, the company's move to build a new
factory is part of a drive to make Beijing the Sony Ericsson global
manufacturing center, said Roger Ericsson, president of BMC.
A spokesperson for Sony Ericsson China said BMC represented
roughly one-third of Sony Ericsson's global manufacturing volume
with direct shipment to 119 countries and regions, but would not
give the new plant's production capacity.
BMC has already shipped 100 million phones. Exports reached
22.14 billion yuan (US$2.9 billion) in 2006, an 18 percent increase
year-on-year.
(Xinhua News Agency June 19, 2007)