Google has homed in on one of India’s largest contract manufacturers, Dixon Technologies to produce its premium Pixel 8 the phone, report The Times ofIndia and Economic Times today in similar announcements.
This follows Alphabet CEO India-born Sundar Pichai’s announcement in October last, in a message on ‘X’ (formery Twitter): “We shared plans at #GoogleforIndia to manufacture Pixel smartphones locally and expect the first device to roll out in 2024. We’re committed to being a trusted partner in India’s digital growth — appreciate the support for Make In India.”
In February, Nikkei Asia, a global publication from Japan, reported that Google had told suppliers to start making its Pixel smartphones in India by the next quarter, underlining the American search engine giant's determination to further diversify its supply chain away from China and capture the booming Indian smartphone market.
“We believe the company also takes into account the country's investment incentives, import tariff policies, as well as its massive domestic market,” Eddie Han, research director of Isaiah Research, told Nikkei.
Since then, according to reportage in the Times group publications today, Google has selected Dixon as its India partner, which in turn is said to have identified its wholly owned subsidiary, Noida-based Paget Electronics to house the Pixel manufacturing line. On Friday un attributed news reports from Tamil Nadu suggested that a Foxconn plant in Tamil Nadu could also see the Google phone manufacture.
After ongoing trial runs,Initial capacity expected from September, will be 100,000 units a month, 25%-20% slated for export. Google and its partners will leverage the Indian government’s Production-linked Incentives.
Google is the last among makers of high end premium phones to commit to Indian manufacture. Both Apple and Samsung have been rolling out their flagship iPhone and Galaxy phones in India.
The latest iteration in Google's premier phone range has two variants, Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro priced in the band Rs 69,000 and Rs 1,01,000.
This has appeared in NewIndiaAbroad