Ramping up its focus on India, Google’s parent Alphabet is looking to manufacture drones and Pixel phones, and is in talks with Foxconn to make them at a plant in Tamil Nadu. While Dixon Technologies has also been given the contract to manufacture smartphones, drones are being considered for production in India for the first time. Alphabet-owned Wing is eyeing the production of bigger drones to carry larger packets for delivery. Investment and expected volumes have not been disclosed.
The manufacturing of the latest Pixel smartphones as well as drones is expected in Sriperumbudur - the electronics manufacturing hub near Chennai - after discussions with state govt. “It is not just Pixel smartphones and drones. Google has several more products to manufacture and it choosing Tamil Nadu indicates the value support this state can offer on a global scale,” a source said.
In Oct last year, Google announced its decision to manufacture its Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro phones in India and said it is in talks with domestic and international players. Two contract manufacturers - Foxconn and Pegatron - are already assembling more than 80% of the country’s $14 billion worth of Apple’s iPhones from Tamil Nadu, according to industry estimates. Along with Tata’s electronics’ operations and component ecosystem, Tamil Nadu leads the mobile phone manufacturing segment in the country.
The Google development comes soon after a delegation from the state including industries minister T R B Rajaa, along with Foxconn executives, visited the US and met senior Google executives at Mountain View, California. The company, through Foxconn, has expressed interest in setting up the plant near Chennai and a group of Google executives and representatives is likely to meet chief minister M K Stalin and finalise the manufacturing arrangement, sources said.
