Google Plans to Shift All Pixel Production from China

According to Nikkei Asia, Google plans to cease all Pixel device manufacturing in China starting next year. While the company has been building its production capabilities in Vietnam and India over the past few years, the majority of its manufacturing operations still occur in China. Reports indicate that Google has informed its suppliers about its decision to relocate the production of all Pixel smartphones, smartwatches, and earbuds outside of China beginning in 2027.

Back in January, Nikkei Asia revealed that Google intends to develop and produce its Pixel 11 devices in Vietnam. This transition requires significant investments in testing equipment and tooling machines, alongside the need to validate and optimize the production process for crafting the latest Pixel phones from the ground up in Vietnam. The successful establishment of production capabilities for the Pixel 11 has built Google’s confidence to replicate similar processes for its other devices in the country. Manufacturing smartphones is notably more intricate than producing earbuds and smartwatches.

A source from the publication mentioned that Google’s move out of China will be less complicated compared to Apple’s transition, mainly because Google does not officially sell Pixel devices in China. The current user base for Google’s smartphones is relatively small, enabling the company to leverage the existing smartphone supply chain ecosystem established by Samsung in Vietnam.

Google has reportedly informed its suppliers about plans to increase Pixel phone shipments by 8 to 10 percent this year, building upon last year’s total of 12 million units. The company aims for its smartphones to facilitate greater adoption of Gemini’s AI features. To mitigate the impact of rising memory component costs, Google is said to be bundling orders for phone memory chips with its chip orders for the cloud computing sector.