Located in Banciao, a suburb of Taipei, Flextronics' newly established Computing Segment Design Center, will design laptops for brand-name hardware vendors. The laptops will then be manufactured in Flextronics' factories and shipped to customers around the world.

The Banciao design center joins two similar centers that Flextronics has set up in Taiwan to design other computing products, including servers and desktop PCs.

Flextronics' customers include Hewlett-Packard, Dell and Cisco Systems, among others.

While Flextronics is based in Singapore, Taiwan serves as the center of the company's computer-related business, and it expects to employ 1,500 engineers in its design centers there within the next few years, the company said in a statement.

Taiwan is home to many of the world's largest hardware makers, including Hon Hai Precision Industry and Quanta Computer. The island is also home to hundreds of smaller companies that design and produce components used to manufacture laptops and other computers. By setting up shop in Banciao, Flextronics' laptop design team will also be close to these suppliers