Make in India: Google to manufacture and roll out Pixel smartphones in 2024
Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Three days after Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed with its CEO Sundar Pichai, Google said on Thursday it will manufacture and market the first India-made Pixel devices in 2024.
These devices include Pixel 8 smartphones, the media reported.
Rick Osterloh, who is Head of Devices, said during the ninth edition of the Google for India event “It’s an early step towards expanding our production here to meet the local demand for pixel devices. And even more importantly, it’s a huge step forward in Google’s commitment to Make in India.”
“We intend to start with the Pixel 8, and will partner with international and domestic manufacturers to produce Pixel smartphones locally,” Google said in a blog post.
Recently, Google tied up with Hewlett Packard (HP) to start manufacturing affordable HP Chromebooks in India. These are affordable laptops, powered by Google’s ChromeOS operating system, which will be cheaper than Windows and macOS-running laptops.
Ana Corrales, Operating Head of Google’s Consumer Hardware Division, and Maggie Wei, Senior Director of Global Sustaining Product Operations, were among the key executives who visited India recently for partnership talks, the reports said.
Google manufactured about nine million units of Pixel phones in 2022 from its facilities in China and Vietnam and plans to manufacture other hardware products in India.
On Monday, PM Modi virtually interacted with Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, about Google’s plan to participate in expanding the electronics manufacturing ecosystem in India, and appreciated Google’s partnership with HP to manufacture Chromebooks in India.
The PM acknowledged Google’s 100 languages initiative and encouraged efforts to make AI tools available in Indian languages. He also encouraged Google to work on AI tools for Good Governance.
He welcomed Google’s plans to open its global fintech operations center at the Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT) in Gandhinagar.
Pichai informed the Prime Minister about Google’s plans to improve financial inclusion in India by leveraging the strength and reach of GPay and UPI. He also emphasized Google’s commitment to contribute to the development trajectory of India.
The Prime Minister invited Google to contribute to the upcoming Global Partnership on AI Summit, which will be hosted by India in December 2023 in New Delhi.
