Dell goes shopping in China this year

TIN MAN MICHAEL Dell will be buying more than $18 billion worth of components for his grey boxes from Chinese suppliers this year.

Dell has been a big fan of Chinese made products having bought $17.9 billion last year.

A company official later told Reuters the $18 billion figure was a conservative estimate for 2007, and the actual level of purchases in China is "certain to be higher than that".

The biggest winners is likely to be Witel Information and Technology whose gear has been ticking away under Dell's livery for a while now.

Dell's has built a second manufacturing facility in the southern city of Xiamen this is and assembly plants, from where the company ships directly to customers. More here. µ