ROUND ROCK, TX-Dell Inc. is adding to its U.S. manufacturing operations with a third location, this one in North Carolina. The North Carolina facility will produce desktop computers for Dell's East Coast business and consumer customers. In the first half of 2004, Dell increased unit shipments by nearly 20 percent and increased its U.S. market share by two share points to around 33 percent.

The new facility, scheduled to open in the fall of 2005, will employ about 700 in its first year of operation, with the work force expanding to 1,500 within 5 years.

The company also has manufacturing operations in Austin, TX, and Lebanon, TN, as well as Limerick, Ireland; Penang, Malaysia; Xiamen, China; and Eldorado do Sul, Brazil.