Compaq is to outsource the manufacture of its low-end PCs in Germany, according the Dow Jones newswire. It is said to have contracted Schaefer-IT-Logistics GmbH to buy parts locally, at a cheaper rate than otherwise possible, and them assemble them into units. Schaefer has the capacity to product up to 500,000 PCs in this way, says the newswire. Large name US manufacturers have not succeeded in breaking into the German market to date, where 80% of sales still go to PCs assembled locally by German companies. German PC sales this year are likely to reach 1.7m units.
