back to article IBM opens Power Systems lab in Taiwan

Big Blue is opening up its first Power Systems development laboratory in Asia in an effort to do development less expensively and to better crack the high-growth Asian IT markets with its Power-based AIX, IBM i, and Linux systems. But don't get the wrong idea. IBM is not shifting development of its Power processors, to Taiwan …

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  1. John Savard

    Volume

    Silly me, but I would have thought that having two factories is a problem at a low volume, but if the volume becomes high enough, it becomes much less of a problem.

    Unless, of course, I misread the article, and that was what it was saying.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      It's a balance between shipping parts and shipping built systems

      China is growing like crazy and has had some Power systems manufacturing for many years already. It makes sense to have a plant in Asia for Asia and to start being able to also manufacture more systems. Chips are and will be in New York.

      It's a much better arrangement than Oracle has which is Sparc T chips made in China and systems made in Mexico then shipped back to Asia.

      HP Itanium is made in an old 65nm fab somewhere in a desert looking for Larry to not estrange Poulson.

      Matt B

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        If you mean it's all about cost...

        then you are correct. Otherwise you'd see manufacturing come back to the States for the same reason.

  2. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shifting production based on cost

    "at a certain volume having two factories is a cost that IBM will not bear, regardless of the politics."

    Quite so. (As an example from another area, Almost all farm tractors nowadays are manufactured in Japan, even the all-American John Deere.)

  3. dlc.usa
    Thumb Up

    Another Factor

    Decentralization is a wonderful attribute when a major regional disruption occurs. How much is such insurance worth?

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Global Free Trade

    as pushed by the Republicans, in America. First, the low end manufacturing jobs went, then any middle income job that can be outsourced has gone/is going, now the higher end tech jobs are leaving. I wonder how much longer before the Indians/Chinese have enough American educated accountants and business managers to do all but the highest levels of business activity.

    Think of the huge amounts of money companies could save if they didn't have to pay hugely inflated upper management salaries and bonuses. Now that's where the cost savings are not with the peons that actually design and build things.

    So, who'll be left to pay taxes, I mean someone's got to support us. Maybe the Chinese and Indians will be kind enough to send us food aid.

    Global Free Trade the greatest robbery of wealth from the middle class of the developed world since....hhhhmmm.....probably fiat currency, the ending of the gold standard.

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