Joe Maring / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google will reportedly develop high-end Pixel telephones in Vietnam later this yr.
- Google already makes Pixels within the nation, however conducting key growth available in the market can be an enormous step.
- This transfer may assist Google climate financial upheaval resulting from US tariffs.
Google first began transferring Pixel cellphone manufacturing from China to Vietnam in 2019, and the corporate has continued to shift manufacturing from China to each Vietnam and India. Now, the corporate may truly do greater than produce Pixel telephones exterior China.
Nikkei Asia studies that Google plans to each develop and manufacture high-end Pixel telephones in Vietnam in 2026. The outlet studies that Google will perform so-called new product introductions (NPIs) for Pixel, Pixel Professional, and Pixel Fold fashions within the nation.
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NPI refers back to the stage of creating, verifying, and adjusting manufacturing processes for brand spanking new units. This stage, which entails each the smartphone maker and its suppliers, apparently requires important funding in tooling gear and testing machines. Google has usually performed the NPI stage in China till now. The outlet claims that growth of the Pixel A telephones will stay in China for now, although.
Two Nikkei sources say that making a Pixel cellphone from scratch in Vietnam must be achievable, as Google already manufactures high-end Pixels and performs some verification steps within the nation. So it’s not as if the corporate is ranging from completely nothing.
The transfer additionally comes towards a backdrop of financial uncertainty resulting from aggressive tariffs by the US authorities. Analyst Lori Chang advised the outlet that transferring the NPI course of to a different nation is a “key indicator of a provide chain’s potential to function independently.” She added that geopolitical and tariff causes additionally encourage corporations to maneuver their provide chains with the intention to cut back prices over time. For sure, with the ability to design and produce telephones in both nation from scratch provides Google some monetary and strategic flexibility.
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