China has long been known as the global manufacturing hub for\nelectronic devices, including smartphones. However, slowly but surely,\nthe world\u2019s technology giants are beginning to leave the \u2018Celestial\nEmpire\u2019.<\/p>\n
This movement was pioneered by Samsung, which completely closed its\nfinal factory in Huizhou in 2019 following a decline in market share.\nFollowing suit, Apple has begun reducing its iPhone production share in\nChina and shifting it to India amidst intensifying geopolitical friction\nbetween Washington and Beijing.<\/p>\n
Now, this wave of exodus is expanding. According to recent reports,\nGoogle is reportedly planning to halt all production of its Pixel\nhardware line in China by next year. This strategic decision covers not\nonly smartphones but also smartwatches and earbuds.<\/p>\n
In recent years, the search engine giant has actually been expanding\nits production capacity to Vietnam and India to reduce its reliance on\nChina. Nevertheless, a \u201csignificant\u201d portion of Pixel products is still\nmanufactured within China.<\/p>\n
An ambitious target to complete this transition is driven by Google\u2019s\nsuccess in producing Pixel phones independently in Vietnam this year.\nGiven that the complexity of phone assembly is much higher compared to\nsmartwatches or earbuds, the company is now optimistic that a full\ntransition can be realised soon.<\/p>\n
If this plan proceeds smoothly, Google will be recorded as the second\nglobal phone brand to completely depart from its Chinese manufacturing\nbase, following in the footsteps of Samsung. This move is considered\nsmoother for Google as they do not market their phone products in China\nat all, a similar condition experienced by Samsung at the time due to\nsmall local market share.<\/p>\n
Amidst this supply chain transformation, Google remains aggressive in\nboosting its hardware business. The company is projected to be able to\nboost Pixel phone shipments by 8% to 10% this year, surpassing last\nyear\u2019s achievement of 12 million units.<\/p>\n
To mitigate the pressure of surging memory chip prices in the market,\nGoogle has even adopted a tactical strategy by combining chip orders for\nits cloud computing line with its smartphone line. This move strengthens\ntheir bargaining position in direct negotiations with the trio of global\nmemory giants: Samsung, SK Hynix, and Micron.<\/p>\n
Furthermore, Google\u2019s optimism is supported by projections from\nindustry component executives. An anonymous source from the supply chain\nthat also supplies Xiaomi mentioned that Google has a significant\nopportunity to capture some of Apple\u2019s market share in key markets such\nas the United States, Japan, and Europe, especially if Apple eventually\nadopts a policy of increasing iPhone retail prices.<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/china-being-abandoned-as-smartphone-factories-move-elsewhere-1788242184", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }