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Google to manufacture Pixel 8 at Dixon’s India plant

Trial production has started; roll out expected by September, harnessing Make in India incentives.

Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones. / Google

Google has rewportedly homed in on one of India’s largest contract manufacturers, Dixon Technologies, to produce its premium Pixel 8 phone.

This follows Alphabet CEO India-born Sundar Pichai’s announcement in October last year,  where he expressed the initention to locally manufacture the smartphone, in a message on ‘X’ (formery Twitter): “We shared plans at #GoogleforIndia to manufacture Pixel smartphones locally and expect the first device to roll out in 2024. We’re committed to being a trusted partner in India’s digital growth — appreciate the support for Make In India.”

In February,  Nikkei Asia, a global publication from Japan, reported that Google had told suppliers to start making its Pixel smartphones in India by the next quarter, underlining the American search engine giant's determination to further diversify its supply chain away from China and capture the booming Indian smartphone market.

“We believe the company also takes into account the country's investment incentives, import tariff policies, as well as its massive domestic market,” Eddie Han, research director of Isaiah Research, told Nikkei.

Dixon is said to have identified its wholly owned subsidiary,  Noida-based Paget Electronics to house the Pixel manufacturing line. On May.24, unattributed news reports from Tamil Nadu suggested that the Foxconn plant in Sriperumbudur could also see the Google phone manufacture.

After ongoing trial runs, initial capacity expected from September, will be 100,000 units a month,  25- 20 percent slated for export. Google and its partners will leverage the Indian government’s Production-linked incentives.

Google is the last among makers of high end premium phones to commit to Indian manufacture. Both Apple and Samsung have been rolling out their flagship iPhone and Galaxy phones in India.

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