HP Shifts Consumer Notebook Production From China To Japan

Back in June, HP announced something very unusual: a plan to shift production of business notebooks for the Japanese market from China to Japan. The company then actually started manufacturing these devices in its plant in Akishima near Tokyo, in August.

It appears the US company is seeing some potential in the move, as now Japan’s biggest business daily The Nikkei is reporting that HP will bring the production of notebooks for the consumer market in the country from China to Japan, too. The goal is to reduce delivery time, use the “made-in-Japan” moniker in marketing, and simplify logistics.

One of the models that will be produced in Japan soon is the 15.6-inch Pavilion dv6-6b00, for example. HP says that with the move, notebooks can be shipped to customers in just five days after an order comes in, significantly less than the 14 days it takes from plants in China.

HP plans, by February next year, to manufacture a total of 500,000 notebooks yearly in Japan. The company also produces all desktop PCs sold in the country in its plant in Akishima.