We’ve been hearing rumors about HTC manufacturing the 2016 Nexus devices as early as January of this year. Despite numerous reports, once Google finally announced the Google Pixel and Pixel XL last month, both smartphones were marketed as being “made by Google” with no mention of HTC whatsoever. It’s unlikely that the Mountain View-based tech giant will ever officially confirm that its Pixel phones were manufactured by the Taiwanese consumer electronics manufacturer but that doesn’t mean that the previous reports were false. On the contrary, Google has just announced that HTC will be its official after-sales support partner in India, which seemingly only corroborates that the Taiwanese company has been intimately involved in the manufacturing process of the upcoming Pixel phones.
Namely, the after-sales support encompasses the provision of all services, technical support, and spare parts related to the product after the initial sale. If HTC was truly the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) that was contracted to make the Google Pixel and Pixel XL, it would definitely make sense to also contract it to work on after-sales support. You know, given the fact that the company probably has a bunch of Pixel and Pixel XL spare parts laying around and its technicians are already familiar with both devices. So, if you happen to be located in India and are interested in buying Google Pixel or Pixel XL, note that all potential support will be handled by one of the 56 HTC service centers located in the Asian country.
In addition to that, HTC will also be handling the brick and mortar sales of both the Pixel and Pixel XL in India. In other words, you’ll be able to purchase the upcoming Nexus successors in over 1000 physical stores located throughout the country. Regarding the aforementioned customer support, HTC will offer a free customer service number for all Indian Pixel owners that will serve as a gateway to additional after-sales support. Both Pixel phones are launching in India later this month and Flipkart is also expected to start offering preorders tomorrow. Of course, if ordering a phone in advance isn’t your thing, HTC won’t be the only entity selling Google Pixel and Pixel XL in India as all major retailers in the country will also stock both devices.