HP computers were not always manufactured abroad. Founded in 1939, the company was originally founded in Palo Alto, California. Two American entrepreneurs—the eponymous Bill Hewlett and David Packard—initially started HP as a US-based electronics testing company. It won’t be many years before HP connects with computers.

When the PC revolution was launched in the 1980s, Hewlett-Packard was at the forefront. The first HP personal computers to hit the market were manufactured in the United States. However, sales quickly expanded to overseas markets, and assembly plants were quickly opened in China. The city of Chongqing in particular boomed over the next 40 years, as multiple manufacturing facilities began most of the assembly and production in Asian markets as well as the US

HP computers sold in America and Europe are usually manufactured in the United States. HP PCs sold in Asia are usually assembled and manufactured in China, with parts manufactured in India. That was largely true until an official statement in September 2023 heralded a new, diverse direction for the PC giant.

As Nikkei reported, Hewlett-Packard is moving a significant portion of its manufacturing operations from China to facilities in Thailand, Mexico and Vietnam. Thailand is the destination for a percentage of HP’s consumer laptops, and Mexico will be the new source of many productivity-first “commercial laptops” — meaning don’t expect a gaming laptop like the latest OMEN to come from Mexico. However, according to HP, Chongqing and other Chinese hubs will not be forgotten, as China’s “laptop city” still produces most of HP’s PCs for the Asian market.