Looks Like India will be Manufacturing Google’s Pixel Phone Line this Year
The shift to move smartphone production to India is a move that’s not entirely new for some companies, as shown by Apple and Samsung in not too long ago. More recently, it looks like Google will be joining its top two competitors in moving its supply chain to South Asia, according to a report from Nikkei Asia.
This new development follows Google’s 10 million shipment milestone for its Pixel phones in 2023, according to an internal source. The company apparently plans to repeat this achievement, and will target another 10 million Pixel phone shipments for 2024.
According to several sources, Google will prepare the production line for its the Pixel 8 Pro model in the southern part of India in the coming weeks, then begin turning out phones in the April-June quarter. This will be followed by production of the Pixel 8 in the northern region of the country around mid-2024.
At the moment, Google’s production suppliers are based in Vietnam, with earlier models being manufactured in China. One source quotes:
“Google is not the only tech company that started to look for a ‘China+2’ strategy. That means diversifying away from China into another place is not enough, but suppliers should have multiple non-China options for better supply chain resilience.”
While Google’s Pixel handset range doesn’t sell enough to compete with brands such as Apple and Samsung on a global scale, the company does claim that it’s seen growing success with markets such as Japan, for example.
Source: Nikkei Asia