Shubham Sawarkar
Following disturbances in China caused by COVID-19 lockdowns and Beijing’s increased conflict with the United States, Alphabet’s Google is considering making some of the production of Pixel phones in India, The Information said on Monday (Sept. 12, 2022).
According to the report, Alphabet’s Google has requested bids from Indian manufacturers to produce between 500,000 and 1 million Pixel smartphones or 10% to 20% of the device’s expected yearly manufacturing.
Sundar Pichai, the company’s chief executive officer, hinted at a plan to manufacture in India earlier this year, but no final decision has been made, according to the report. If approved, Chinese components will still need to be imported for use in India’s production processes.
According to Nikkei, another manufacturing facility that Alphabet is considering is Vietnam.
Through contract manufacturing partners Foxconn and Wistron, the company’s biggest smartphone rival Apple now produces at least four models up to the iPhone 13 in India. It is reportedly thinking of releasing the most recent iPhone model, the iPhone 14, in India as well.
Related: Apple’s iPhone 14 is going into production in India just two months after China
