Google to start manufacturing Pixel smartphones in India

Production to start in time for sales next year

The new Pixel 8 Phone, displayed in New York City, will be made in India for the first time. Reuters

Alphabet will begin production in India of its Pixel 8 smartphones in time for sales in 2024, the company announced at its Google for India annual tech event.

Google will partner with domestic and global suppliers to put together its first India-made handsets, hardware chief Rick Osterloh said at the event.

The move from the company responsible for Android, the world’s most-used mobile operating system, adds to a string of successes by India’s government in enticing international device makers to build in the country.

Dixon Technologies India and Foxconn Technology Group’s Indian unit are the leading contenders to manufacture the phone, sources say.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has attracted greater investment from Apple, which opened its first two stores in India this year and is increasingly shifting iPhone production from China to India.

The latest iPhone 15 generation was also the first in the company’s history to launch made-in-India handsets at the same time as those made in China.

Outside of US device makers, Samsung Electronics also manufactures its Galaxy handsets in India and Chinese Android vendors have set up partnerships with local assemblers.