Google plans to launch a flagship smartphone in India.

Google plans to manufacture its flagship Pixel 8 smartphone in India, CEO Sundar Pichai said on Thursday, joining a growing list of global tech companies reducing their supply chains’ reliance on China.

Pichai’s announcement follows US tech rival Apple’s release of its latest iPhone last month, including units made in India, as tech giants eye the South Asian country’s fast-expanding market and cheap talent. Mend targets an abundant supply of labour.

“We shared plans to manufacture Pixel smartphones locally at #GoogleforIndia (Thursday’s event) and expect the first devices to launch in 2024,” Pichai said on X.

Pichai added that Google appreciated the “Make in India support” – a flagship policy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government, which would have offered faster business approvals and financial incentives to manufacture goods in the country. Is.

New Delhi has increased production and exports of mobile phones and other electronic goods since the introduction of the scheme.

India’s mobile phone exports are set to nearly double to $8.5 billion annually in 2022-23, according to official data.

Google senior vice president Rick Osterloh said the firm sees “an even bigger opportunity to make Pixel smartphones available to more people” in India.

“In recent years, India has established itself as a truly world-class hub for manufacturing, resulting in a thriving environment for businesses to thrive,” Osterloh said in a statement.

He added that the company “plans to start with the Pixel 8, and will partner with international and domestic manufacturers to manufacture Pixel smartphones locally”.

Also read: Google has launched Pixel 8, a smartwatch with new AI features.

India, home to the second largest number of smartphone users after China, has set a target of around $300 billion worth of domestic electronics and smartphones production by 2025-26.

Google already has significant investments in the country and has partnered with Reliance Jio, owned by India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani, on a 4G-capable, low-cost smartphone for the local market. .

Earlier this year, Taiwanese electronics giant Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer and a principal assembler of iPhones, bought a huge plot of land on the outskirts of India’s tech hub Bengaluru.

It was seen as part of Apple’s push into India — the world’s most populous and fastest-growing major economy — and its efforts to diversify production away from China.

Electronics giant Samsung also operates the world’s largest mobile phone factory on the outskirts of New Delhi with a capacity of around 120 million units annually.