After Apple, Google Considers Manufacturing Phones In India: Report

After Apple, another tech giant Alphabet Inc is considering moving production of some phones to India amid disruptions in China from Covid-19 lockdowns and Beijing's rising tensions with the United States.

Google parent Alphabet Inc is considering moving some production of its flagship Pixel phones to India, according to a Reuters news report.

Alphabet has also received bids from manufacturers in India to make between 500,000 and 1 million Pixel smartphones, equivalent to 10% to 20% of the estimated annual production for the device, according to the report. 

The report said the company's Chief Executive Officer Sundar Pichai had previewed a plan to manufacture in India earlier this year but a final decision has not yet been made.

If approved, India's production operations will still require the import of components from China. Alphabet is also considering Vietnam as another manufacturing base.

Google is set to release the new Pixel 7 series and its first smartwatch on October 6.

Apple Looks To Make iPhones In India

Google is not the first tech giant to consider India for phone assembly, its rival Apple is reportedly planning to start manufacturing iPhone 14, the latest model unveiled on September 7, in the country.

Apple, however, already makes at least four models up to iPhone 13 in India through contract manufacturing partners Foxconn and Wistron. It started assembling iPhones in India with its budget iPhone SE in 2017 and the Cupertino-baed company manufactures iPhone 11 and iPhone 12 at the Foxconn-owned Chennai facility while the iPhone SE and iPhone 12 are manufactured at the Wistron facility in Karnataka. 

As per reports, the production of the first batch of iPhone 14 in India is likely to be finished in late October or November, making it the first time that production of a new generation iPhone will begin in another country simultaneously with China.

For this, Apple's Taiwan-based supplier Foxconn has studied the process of shipping items from China and assembling the iPhone 14 at its plant near Chennai.

Why Phone Makers Are Shifting Production From China?

Global supply chains were disrupted earlier this year when China locked down key tech hub Shanghai, among other cities, due to a surge in Covid cases. 

Moreover, the US banned exports of some high-end chips to China.

Not just Covid lockdowns, the production shift by Google and Apple is also following growing concerns about the geopolitical tensions between US and China in the last few years. 

In view of this, the US tech giants fear more trouble as the US and China's tussle over Taiwan.

This means India and other Asian countries are becoming increasingly important as US tech giants try to diversify production away from China.