Google is in the early stages of talks with domestic suppliers to move some of its Pixel smartphone production into India. This is according to Bloomberg, who cited people familiar with the matter. Currently, Google has its Pixels produced in China and Vietnam.
This is just the latest tech giant to eye India as a manufacturing hub. The country had also been touting the “Make in India” program, to bring more companies into India, taking them away from China. Apple has also been looking at moving production of its iPhone over to India.
According to this report from Bloomberg, Google has spoken with Lava International Ltd, Dixon Technologies India and Foxconn Technology Group’s Indian unit Bharat FIH.
What would this mean for Pixel users?
If Google does move some or all of its Pixel smartphone production to India, that would have very little effect on the consumer. We could see prices go up a little bit, but where Google is already very competitive with its Pixel pricing, that is pretty unlikely. This could, however, see the Pixel launch in more countries. As it stands right now, they are only officially available in a handful of countries, and gets imported to others.
India has become a pretty big manufacturing hub for a number of companies over the past decade, even Chinese companies like Xiaomi. Who was making phones that they sell in India, at plants in India. Which also saved them money in shipping them overseas. Allowing Xiaomi to sell those phones for less.
Companies like Google are always looking to diversify their partners, so it’s unlikely that they would move 100% of Pixel smartphone production over to India. They will likely keep some of it in Vietnam and/or China as well. This is how companies like Apple were able to withstand the COVID-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021. As some countries locked down while others did not.