The Google logo is seen during the Google I/O annual developers conference at Shoreline Amphitheatre in Mountain View, California on May 10, 2023. (Photo by Josh Edelson / AFP)
Alphabet Inc. 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 local 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 locally.
Dixon Technologies India Ltd. and Foxconn Technology Group’s Indian unit are the leading contenders to manufacture the phone, according to people familiar with the matter, who asked to remain anonymous because the discussions aren’t yet public.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration has attracted greater investment from Apple Inc., 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 Co. also manufactures its Galaxy handsets in India and Chinese Android vendors have set up partnerships with local assemblers.
