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Google to make its phones in India; first set to hit markets early next year

It is good for Google, and it is good for India, says Union minister Ashwini Vaishnaw

From left: Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president (devices & services), Union minister Ashwini Vaishnav and Sanjay Gupta, Google India MD, announcing manufacturing of Google pixel 8 phone in India | Sanjay Ahlawat

In a shot in the arm for Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s plans to make India an electronics manufacturing hub, Google, on Thursday, announced that it will start manufacturing its phones in India. Google follows an illustrious list of global smartphone brands, from Samsung to Apple, to kick-start assembling its marquee phones in the country.

The first set of ‘Make in India’ Google Pixel phones, the latest 8 and 8 Pro models, will hit the market as early as next year.

“When we set out with our hardware business, we committed to building and investing for the long run, and our plan to manufacture in India is an early step in the long journey of expanding our device production capacity and helping meet the country’s growing demand for Pixel smartphones,” said Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior vice president (devices & services).

“It is good for Google, and it is good for India,” said Union IT & Telecom Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw.

Alphabet’s Google had been reportedly in talks with local manufacturers like Lava, Dixon and Bharat FIH as well as suppliers to assemble its Pixel smartphones in the country, as part of a move to ‘decouple’ from China, a prevailing sentiment amongst Western giants since Covid. This is similar to what rival Apple did, by announcing a one billion dollar local manufacturing plan in South India a few years ago — many of its latest iPhone 15 models out in global markets now sport the ‘Assembled in India’ tag.

Google's move gained strength back in the summer, following the visit of Alphabet chief Sundar Pichai to India, where he discussed the matter with Vaishnaw. The companies being considered as Google’s local partners have all qualified for the PLI (production-linked incentive) scheme’s largesse.

The Google Pixel smartphone, in fact, started its journey in India, but could not face up to the intense competition from the ‘Made in China’ brands then present in the market. In fact, since then, the trajectory has been mixed, with only some more affordable Pixel models being made available in the country in between, with the Pixel flagship missing from Google’s hardware lineup. However, that has changed very much now, considering the big splash it seems to be making with the latest Pixel 8 series, launched globally as well as in India at the same time earlier this month.

The Indian government was also keen on attracting more local manufacturing, part of an ambitious ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ and PLI scheme whereby the country sought to reduce its dependency on imports in crucial sectors, as well as earn precious foreign exchange. From negligible numbers a decade back, mobile manufacturing is today a $44 billion market for India, with exports of $11 billion.

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