Made in America — Google Glass said to be homegrown, initially
While I’ve never been one to put much stock into the “made in” stamp on so many of the products we use everyday, it does say something about a company wanting to bypass (often cheaper) overseas manufacturing to ensure their products are built to perfection. It seems Google will be doing the same with Google Glass, at least in the first consumer production run of the smart glasses.
Financial Times is reporting that the Mountain View company will send its first batch of orders off to the Santa Clara, CA Foxconn plant. With a delicate product like this — both in form and in it being one of the first of its kind — Google likely wanted to keep a close eye on it to make sure things are being built to near perfection. It’s easier to do that when production is being carried out in your backyard than across the Pacific Ocean.
According to the report, Google may decide to shift production to overseas plants following successful runs at the Santa Clara one, though nothing is certain at this time. We’re told to expect a smaller initial order for now as Google Glass probably won’t be in as high demand as its Nexus line of smartphones and tablets. This could be due to high price, a much more niche product, or a combination of both. Whatever the case, though, we just hope they make enough to avoid the Nexus 4 debacle of 2012.