IBM opened its first server remanufacturing center in China to capitalize on the growing market for used IT equipment and to help cut down on e-waste in a country known for it.
IBM announced
the opening of a new server remanufacturing center in China to extend the life
of older IT equipment that otherwise would go into landfills.
The new
center, located in Shenzhen, will help reduce the impact of e-waste on the
environment. IBM will also buy back select IBM Power Systems from clients as
they upgrade to new IBM equipment.
IBM said the
new facility expands the company's global remanufacturing and refurbishment
operations in Australia, Singapore, Japan, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany and
the United States. The Shenzhen facility will initially remanufacture hundreds
of midrange IBM Power Systems, which are reconditioned, tested and certified
using rigorous processes and original manufacturing standards, or rebuilt to
meet specific customer requirements. The facility will rapidly expand to
remanufacture 100,000 PCs and low-end and midrange IBM and non-IBM servers per
year by 2014.
According to
IDC, the used equipment market in China is forecast to reach $25 billion by
2014, with more than two-thirds forecast for used low-end, midrange and high-end
servers and PCs alone.
IBM's
remanufacturing center is a positive initiative in a country known for e-waste.
Guiyu, China, is known as the country's electronic waste village and is a
dumping ground for discarded electronic equipment from around the world; almost
80 percent of the discarded electronics come from outside China.
TIME
magazine ran a photo essay on the situation. The Chinese electronic wasteland
also was the subject of a "60 Minutes" episode.
The demand
for IT products in emerging markets is growing; however, not all businesses want
to purchase new products, Richard Dicks, general manager of IBM Global Asset
Recovery Services, said in a statement. As the first IT provider licensed by
the government to remanufacture servers on mainland China, IBM can help clients
affordably acquire IBM Certified Pre-owned Equipment locally to supplement and
support their IT operations while helping the environment.
For nearly 30
years, IBM Global Asset Recovery Services has provided clients with an
environmentally responsible approach to managing older and end-of-life IT equipment,
the company said. The company takes back IBM and non-IBM equipment at end of
lease or when a client decides to upgrade in mid-lease. In addition to
remanufacturing and certifying equipment, IBM Global Asset Recovery Services
handles complete removal and dismantling of unwanted or end-of-life IT
products, preventing, on average, 97 percent of the weight of equipment it
processes from going into landfills.
IBM said China
represents a promising opportunity for IBM Certified Pre-owned Equipment, especially
for small and midsized businesses that want to lower IT costs, or for clients
that need to meet short-term IT project requirements, find emergency
replacements or expand existing IBM infrastructure when a specific model is no
longer in production.
IBM Global
Asset Recovery Services is a unit of IBM Global Financing, a technology
financier with $36 billion. Created in 1981, IBM Global Financing operates in
50 countries.
Darryl K. Taft covers the development tools and developer-related issues beat from his office in Baltimore. He has more than 10 years of experience in the business and is always looking for the next scoop. Taft is a member of the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and was named 'one of the most active middleware reporters in the world' by The Middleware Co. He also has his own card in the 'Who's Who in Enterprise Java' deck.
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