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Google is reportedly moving its manufacturing of Pixel and Nest products out of China, and into Vietnam.
This report comes amid tensions between the US and China and its trade war that President Trump started last year. But that’s not the only reason for Google to move production out of China.
Rising labor costs in China is making Vietnam a much more enticing place to have products manufactured. As it’ll be cheaper, without having to pass that cost on down to the consumer.
The shift to Vietnam will start this year
This very well could mean that your next Google Pixel – perhaps the Pixel 4 – could say “Made in Vietnam” instead of “Made in China” on the back.
Google is also going to be shifting some of its Pixel 3a production out of China to Vietnam before the end of the year.
Most of the US-bound hardware that is normally made in China, is now going to be made in Vietnam. That isn’t limited to just Pixel smartphones either. it also includes smart speakers in the Google Nest Home lineup.
However, it is also being reported that some of the smart home products could also be moved to Thailand.
This is all according to Nikkei, which has a pretty good track record when it comes these things.
Google is expecting to ship between eight and ten million smartphones this year. That’s double the number from a year ago. And this makes Vietnam a key part of Google’s growth in the smartphone market.
Pixel owners won’t notice a difference
If you’re worried that this means that you might see a difference in the Pixel once it moves to Vietnam, don’t be. It won’t change.
The only change that you may see is a different “Made in” text on the back of your phone, so instead of “Made in China” it’ll be “Made in Vietnam”. Otherwise the production is going to be the exact same.
The Pixel 4 being made in Vietnam versus being made in China is really not that big of a deal. But those that want to see Google moving its production out of China, this is going to be good news for them. Seeing as we all know that China uses child labor for making many of these smartphones, though it’s likely that Vietnam could as well. So those worried about ethics when they buy their next phone, can look a bit closer at Google.