Google Joins India's Smartphone Manufacturing Surge With Locally Made Pixel 8

Google has started the production of its flagship Pixel smartphones in India.

"Excited to announce that the first of our Made in India Google Pixel 8 devices have started rolling off the production lines," Google India announced in a social media post on Monday (13 August).

The company had announced plans to make Pixel phones locally in October 2023 at its Google For India event.

The Pixel phones are being manufactured by Wow Tech, a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Taiwanese contract manufacturer Foxconn.

"This is a small batch made after an extensive trial production in Chennai. Foxconn will be ramping up production of the upcoming new variant, testing for which is under process," an industry executive aware of the development was quoted as saying by The Economic Times.

Until now, Google was the only global smartphone brand absent from India's rapidly expanding mobile manufacturing sector, which includes giants like Apple and Samsung.

These companies are part of the government's production-linked incentive scheme and are already exporting large quantities of smartphones from India.

Google has not disclosed the exact number of phones it intends to produce in India, nor whether it plans to export these devices.

"We are happy to announce today that the first of our Made in India Pixel 8 devices have begun rolling off the production lines. Starting with these locally manufactured Pixel phones that will soon be available on our various distribution channels, we are committed to consistently delivering on our promise to bring the magic of AI and our best-in-class camera experience on these devices to people across the country," Google said in an email response to ET.

Earlier in October 2023, Rick Osterloh, Google's senior vice president, revealed that the company had collaborated with both international and domestic manufacturers to produce the device in India.

"This is an early step towards expanding the production here to meet the local demand for Pixel devices," Osterloh had said.

Currently, Google has a minuscule market share in India.

According to Counterpoint Research, Google held a 0.4 per cent market share in Q2 2024, up from 0.25 per cent in 2023. However, demand for Pixel devices is expected to triple by 2025, with the majority of growth expected in the second half.

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