As the US government’s trade war with China continues to worsen thanks to often poor understanding of free trade and economic results companies are beginning to look at moving production out of China and into countries not affected by the Trump-issued tariffs. A new report today has suggested that Google will be moving Pixel production soon.
The Nikkei Asian Review has today reported that Google are looking to move production of their Pixel smartphones from China into Vietnam as they look to “double shipments” through an aggressive hardware campaign. Google has apparently already started work converting an old Nokia factory in Vietnam into a Pixel-producing plant — a claim verified by two people familiar with Google’s plans.
The movement of Pixel production from China to Vietnam will help Google avoid the tariffs imposed by an introspective US government and will “ensure sustainable production of the Pixel range”. Last year Google shipped just 4.7 million smartphones and is looking to double that this year, especially in the mid-range market with their new ‘a’ line of phones. Thanks to the ‘a’ line they have already managed to ship 4.1 million in the first half of this year so the doubling of their shipments is not as far-fetched as it may seem.
The Nikkei Asian Review’s source said that “some” of the Pixel 3a production will be moved into Vietnam by the end of the year and their diversifying its production will help ensure it remains competitive in the hardware space. At this stage it is unclear if all of their production will be moved there but we suspect that once the trade war that is causing many businesses in the US to suffer is halted companies will continue to remain in China, especially while it is competitive with pricing for production with other Asian countries.
At this stage new phones will continue to be manufactured in China which should not halt the production of the Pixel 4 phones set to be announced in the new month or two. Keep an eye out for more Pixel news as we gear up for its launch.
Might not be the best move, as trump has also made comments in regards to adding tarrifs to exports coming out of Vietnam aswell.
Good work Google, one more reason is not to buy your phone.
Huh What ? Moving it into another country to avoid stupid US tariffs imposed by a mad man is a bad thing ? It is probably a good thing you won’t be buying them.
@Terry I don’t get it, why does Google moving to Vietnam make you want to buy a Pixel even less???