Google Announces Plan to Manufacture Pixel Phones in India, Starting With Pixel 8

Google on Thursday announced that it plans to start manufacturing Pixel smartphones in India. The search giant will produce the Pixel 8 in India and the first units are expected to be available in 2024. The Pixel 8 was launched by the company in India and global markets earlier this month, alongside the more premium Pixel 8 Pro model. The handset is powered by a custom Google Tensor G3 chip and a Titan M2 security chip. The phone has a dual rear camera setup and is claimed to offer up to 72 hours of battery life with the Extreme Battery Saver mode.

Seven years after the launch of its first Pixel-branded smartphone, the company announced at its Google for India 2023 event that it plans to manufacture its smartphones in India. The company will start by assembling the Pixel 8 in India, and says that it will work with both local and foreign manufacturers.

The production of the Pixel 8 — and presumably Google's subsequent Pixel smartphones — in India is expected to commence in 2024, according to the company. Customers can expect to see Pixel 8 units manufactured in India by next year.

The announcement makes Google the latest smartphone brand to start manufacturing its handsets in India. Rivals Samsung and Apple also assemble some of their smartphones in the country. However, it is currently unclear whether the pricing of Google's Pixel handsets will drop once more units are manufactured in the country.

Meanwhile, Google also announced that it plans to expand coverage of its service network to more cities and locations across the country — the company currently offers support in 28 service centres located in 27 cities that are operated by F1 Info Solutions.

"This is an early step in a long journey of expanding our device production capacity and helping meet the country's growing demand for Pixel smartphones," Senior VP for Devices and Services Rick Osterloh said on Thursday.