Rita El Khoury / Android Authority
TL;DR
- Google’s commitment to making Pixel phones in India has reportedly entered trial production.
- Foxconn should be on the hook for Pro models, while Dixon Technologies would build the standard Pixel.
- Full commercial production is likely to be underway by September.
Google’s got some grand ambitions when it comes to its Pixel phones, and following a banner year in 2023, reports have indicated that the company hopes to sell an additional 10 million Pixel handsets this year. Making that much mobile hardware is no small task, and as part of ramping up Pixel production, Google announced that it would begin manufacturing efforts in India. While we’ve yet to see any of this India-made hardware hit the market, a new report claims that trial production is already underway.
That trial run has gotten started with the help of manufacturing partner Foxconn, as Money Control reports (via 9to5Google). In addition to Foxconn, Google would also rely upon Padget Electronics, a subsidiary of Dixon Technologies. According to the anonymous source behind this info, the two would split production in India based on model, with Dixon handling the base Pixel 9, and Foxconn doing the Pro version.
While Pixel phones are finally available for sale in India, they haven’t exactly caught on with the local market, and even with this local production about to really get going, it sounds like the plan is to ultimately export the vast majority of this hardware. Specifically, the source points to the European market being the initial destination for India-built Pixel phones, with expansion into the US following. Google has yet to confirm these specific details of its effort in India, but the report suggests that we might hope to see the company make a formal announcement sometime later this year — and proximal to the Pixel 9 launch would sure make a lot of sense.
As a consumer, don’t expect any of these manufacturing partnerships to ultimately affect your purchase much. No matter where your next Pixel is coming from, it’s still going to be produced to Google’s demanding specifications, and go through all the quality control we’d expect from a flagship device. With India-based manufacturing expected to be ready for commercial output by September, the initial batch of Pixel 9 hardware will likely arrive from China, but we wouldn’t be surprised to start seeing devices from India begin surfacing over the months that follow.
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