HP's Assembly in South Africa Set To Expand Production

Posted 26 May 2006 @ 09:57 am EET     Print     Reprint     E-Mail     Comments

Johannesburg (Reuters) - Hewlett-Packard's (HP's) local assembly partner in South Africa, Matomo Technologies, has moved to larger premises to ramp up its production of HP computers. Using black-empowered Matomo to produce its PCs helps HP win local tenders by giving it a strong empowerment profile, countering a common complaint that money is draining out of the country when international brands are chosen in preference to local products.

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Matomo's production capacity has grown from 22000 PCs in 2002 -- its first year in operation, when the factory had just one assembly line -- to 95000 PCs last year on four assembly lines. The new factory has added a fifth line to "significantly increase the capacity", although Matomo will not disclose its volume targets.

The new premises is in Midrand and the expansion is adding 10 jobs to the current 45.HP has also set up a facility at the plant where employees are trained in IT support as part of their employment. The PCs Matomo produces have become HP's best-selling desktop model in SA, growing 15% a year to account for 70% of its desktop sales.