In order to create Pixel goods in India, Google plans to move its manufacturing operations out of China

By Somya Agrawal Published on September 12, 2022, 21:33 IST

Google has started looking for manufacturing partners in India and is already requesting estimates from a variety of suppliers and manufacturers there as it prepares to move the majority of its production outside of China.
It was previously reported that Google planned to outsource a sizeable percentage of the upcoming Pixel 7 series production. Initially, Google planned to move between 25 and 30 percent of its production to Vietnam. The next year, they planned to move around half of their manufacturing facilities outside of China.

Google is now looking for proposals from manufacturers in India for the predicted 5,00,000 to 10,00,000 Pixel 7 series smartphones, which will make up 10–20% of the device’s estimated yearly output.

Many electronics companies, especially those with US bases, have explored strategies to reduce their reliance on Chinese manufacturers. Apple was one of the first IT businesses to decide to move its production facilities from China.

Apple planned to shift some of its production to India two months after the iPhone 14 series was introduced. This month, Apple decided to put off shifting its manufacturing operations to India by at least two weeks.

Although the COVID lockdowns imposed arbitrarily and harshly by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) are the main factor driving tech giants like Google and Apple to look for production facilities outside of China, several other factors are also at play.

The first is the escalating geopolitical tension between Taiwan and China. Taiwan supplies the bulk of the world’s semiconductors in addition to numerous other essential components. It has been reported that Chinese authorities are preventing mainland Chinese docks from receiving Taiwanese exports, which is causing issues with logistics and other supply chain components.

Another reason why tech companies, especially American tech companies, are reevaluating their ties with China is the escalating tensions between China and the USA. The present trade spat between the US and China has been cited as one of the reasons Google decided to move its production facilities outside of the US.