Google Pixel phones likely to be made in Vietnam

Tech giant Google is considering having its future Pixel phones produced in partner plants across Vietnam to avoid U.S.-China trade tension risks and China's Covid-19 lockdowns.

Google is already planning for the next-generation Pixel 7 smartphone but will continue producing it mostly in China amid limited changes from the Pixel 6, according to Taiwanese tech magazine Digitimes Asia.

Google will shift a small part of orders to be manufactured in Vietnam for training purposes, the paper on Monday quoted sources from the upstream supply chain as saying, but without naming sources.

FIH, a subsidiary of Taiwanese giant Foxconn, is mainly responsible for making Google's Pixel series, while Compal Electronics - also Taiwanese - oversees some parts of the series. Both FIH and Compal already have manufacturing plants in Vietnam. The duo will be able to handle Google's request at any time, the sources told the Taiwanese paper.

The production line for Google's new smartphones in Vietnam would be established after 2023 and be responsible for new-generation models.

Citing figures from Canalys, a global research firm in technology channels and smartphones, Google said it has seen robust demand for its Pixel 6 in North America with the smartphone's shipments reaching around 1.2 million units in the first quarter of 2022, raising its share in the region to 3%, up from 1% in the first quarter of 2021.

Vietnam has become a production base for global electronics makers like Intel, Samsung, LG, Foxconn, Goertek, Luxshare, Winston, Pegatron, BYD, and Compal. Notably, Chinese company BYD has started assembling Apple tablets in the country, while Compal is in the process of seeking a site to build a new factory.

The iPad became the second major line of Apple products made in the Southeast Asian country, following the AirPods earbud series. The move highlights not only Apple's continuous efforts to diversify its supply chain but also the growing importance of Vietnam to the company. Apple shipped 58 million iPads last year, with the vast majority of the device's suppliers concentrated in China.

Last November, Amkor Technology, Inc. a global semiconductor product packaging and test services provider, announced it will pour as much as $1.6 billion into Vietnam by 2035 to build a state-of-the-art facility in Bac Ninh province near Hanoi.

The smart plant will be an important part of the American corporation’s worldwide network. The facility will cover 23 hectares in Yen Phong 2C Industrial Park.

Bac Ninh province is home to a Samsung Electronics Vietnam facility, one of the two Samsung plants in Vietnam that make Samsung smartphones. The other smartphone factory is in Thai Nguyen province, also in the north. At present, about 60% of Samsung’s smartphones are made in Vietnam.