After Apple, Google Looking To Assemble Smartphones In India As China's Zero-COVID Policy Bites: Report

Alphabet Inc.’s GOOG GOOGL Google is considering moving the assembly of one of its flagship phone brands to India — following the footsteps of Apple Inc AAPL — since China’s strict COVID-19 lockdown caused massive production delays for the tech giant.

What Happened: Google has asked Indian manufacturers to submit bids to assemble up to 1 million units of its Pixel smartphones, The Information reported, citing an inside source.

According to the report, the company has recently manufactured the smartphone almost entirely in China. And the number of devices that Google wants to be assembled in India will account for 10 to 20% of the Pixel’s total annual output.

See Also: India And China To Produce iPhone 15 At Same Time — Apple Analyst Updates Estimate

An email sent by Benzinga to Alphabet Inc. seeking comment didn't elicit any response till the time of publishing this story.

Why It's Important: The move was triggered by Chinese President Xi Jinping's zero-COVID policy and the lockdowns across the country, which disrupted production, causing delays for the tech giants.

Earlier reports indicated that Apple was planning to shift the manufacturing of iPhone 14 to India, two months after the product's initial release. The move by the tech giant is aimed at shortening the new iPhone's production lag from the typical six to nine months for previous launches.

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, Alphabet Inc. Class A shares were trading 0.19% higher, and Alphabet Inc. Class C shares gained 0.30% during the pre-market session on Tuesday.

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