Google Shifts Production Line to Vietnam

Google is moving its Pixel smartphone production from China to Vietnam, following the escalation of a trade war between the United States and China.

The Nikkei Business Daily said in a report on Wednesday that Google's parent Alphabet has been moving the business away from China since the start of the year, in an attempt to build cheaper supply chains in Southeast Asia.

[caption id="attachment_74897" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Google's pixel 3A smartphone[/caption]

The report added that the company plans to move most of the production of Hardware outside China, including the smartphone "pixel", and speaker devices "Google Home."

Google's targeting this year is shipping about 8-10 million smart devices, doubling last year's levels.

Nikkei also confirmed that Google will transfer some products of the phone "pixel 3A" to Vietnam before the end of this year, making the Viets key partners of Google's growth in the smartphone business.

As for the production of the smart speakers, a share of it will be produced in Thailand, while new product development and Hardware will remain in China.

[caption id="attachment_74896" align="aligncenter" width="283"] Google Home speakers collection[/caption]

The production shift comes amid rising labor costs in China as well as increasing tariffs between the US and the Asian dragon.

In the meantime, Google started converting a Nokia factory in Vietnam to start producing Pixel phones. The US giant will gain access to skilled labor, benefiting from a developed supply chain that Samsung has developed in Vietnam a while ago.