Google is moving smartphone development from China to Vietnam
Google is making Vietnam an important link in its smartphone supply chain. Pixel smartphones will soon no longer be developed and manufactured in China.
Out of China: According to Nikkei Asia, Google wants to move the development and production of its top Pixel smartphones to Vietnam.
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Similar to how Apple is relocating its supply chain from China to India, Google is now moving its development and production to Vietnam, according to a media report. It is said to start as early as this year.
A-Series to remain in China
Google will begin developing and manufacturing high-end smartphones in Vietnam this year, according to a report by Nikkei Asia. Google plans to start new product introductions (NPI) for its Pixel, Pixel Pro, and Pixel Fold devices in Vietnam. The development of the more affordable Pixel A-Series will remain in China for now, according to one of Nikkei's sources.
“NPI” encompasses the development, verification, and fine-tuning of production processes. According to Nikkei, it is the most critical phase when a company launches a new electronic device. Hundreds of engineers from the company and its suppliers are involved, and significant investments in test equipment and tooling are required to ensure that a new design can be manufactured according to specifications, it states.
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Google already has production in Vietnam
Vietnam is not entirely new for Google: The company already has high-end smartphones produced there and also conducts tests, according to the report. Thus, it is also possible for the company to build new smartphones from scratch in this country.
These alleged steps by Google come at a time when the technology industry is facing increasing uncertainties regarding customs policy under the Trump administration. It has repeatedly caused significant turbulence and uncertainty in the supply chain since April 2025. For this reason, Apple has also expanded its capacities in India and Vietnam.
“The goal is to achieve functionality, compatibility, and reliability suitable for mass production. If NPI fails, it means there will be no new product this year. But fortunately, something like that has never happened before,” said a source at an Apple supplier about the iPhone maker's strategy. In India, Apple's supply chain has created over 350,000 jobs in the past five years -- an indication of the scale such relocations can take.
“If Google and Apple successfully develop smartphones outside of China, it would be a major success in their efforts to shift production away from the world's largest manufacturing power, as it would represent a significant improvement in supply chain networks and capacities outside of China,” Nikkei writes.
This is not the first time Google's relocation from China has been reported: As early as 2022, it was reported that the company was considering relocating part of its Pixel smartphone production to India – at that time, it was about 500,000 to one million units, or 10 to 20 percent of annual production. The reasons for the considerations at the time were the strict COVID-19 restrictions in China and the increasing trade tensions between Washington and Beijing.
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