In recent years, the largest electronics manufacturing services (EMS) and original design manufacturers (ODMs) have gradually ceased their expansion in China and built production capacities elsewhere across Asia. Now, it is time for their clients to follow. Google intends to relocate production of all Pixel smartphones, smartwatches, and wireless earbuds from China beginning in 2027 as it continues to diversify its supply chain amid tensions between China and the U.S., reports Nikkei.
Google's EMS and ODM partners — such as Compal, Foxconn, and Pegatron — have significantly expanded manufacturing capacity in India and Vietnam in the past several years, although China still accounts for a meaningful portion of their production capacity. In a bid to reduce reliance on China, Google reportedly shifted production of some of its high-end Pixel smartphones to Vietnam this year and remained satisfied with the outcome. Since building premium handsets is considerably more complicated than assembling smartwatches or wireless earbuds, the progress with Pixel phones reportedly gave Google confidence that it could shift the rest of the lineup out of China in 2027. If the plan materializes, Google will become the second global smartphone brand after Samsung to relocate smartphone production from China to other countries.
