Japanese wires said that Hewlett Packard has decided to shift assembly of PCs in the domestic market from the island of Singapore. According to Nikkei Net, the move will happen next year and the decision was taken because it will help it to cut costs and delivery times, as well as satisfy local customer needs. It will also use local, unnamed OEMs to help it build the PCs, the reports said. That is undoubtedly prompted by HP's cutbacks following lack-lustre results this year. Singapore has suffered from more than its fair show of IT cutbacks due to the Asian economic crisis. Two months ago, the Singapore embassy in London refused to say how many jobs had been lost. Many low paid staff working on assembly lines were guest workers from neighbouring Malaysia, connected to the island by a causeway. ®