In the wake of the announcement made by Taiwanese PC manufacturer Compal in February that the company would earmark NT$294.0 million(US$10.2 million; US$1 =NT$28.9) for a new production plant in Chongqing, Compal officially entered an agreement with China's Chongqing provincial government on June 20, the Commercial Times of Taiwan reported on June 21. Pursuant to the agreement, Compal's new production plant is projected to begin mass production at the end of July, 2011, covering R&D, production, and marketing operations of desktop PC, notebook PC, TV sets, and other digital products, inclusive of corresponding parts and components, according to the same source. Compal stated that this new plant is expected to manufacture 10 million notebook PCs and 10 million consumer electronic products per year by 2015. With its plants in Chongqing and Chendu beginning shipments, it is anticipated that China's share of Compal's total notebook PC production will increase to 20% in 2012, up from this year's forecast of 5% to 8%, according to the same source.
Aside from Compal, five other contract manufacturers including Foxconn, Quanta, Inventec, Wistron, and Pegatron already have their respective plants in Chongqing in order to reducing transportation costs and better serve their branded customers such as HP, Acer and Asus that already have set up their plants in Chongqing. In addition, approximately 250 key component suppliers' plants are also situated in the same province, according again to the Commercial Times.