Google Pixel 4a, Pixel 5 Production Facilities Moved To Vietnam: Here’s Why

 

Google Moves Out Of China

A report by Nikkei Asian Review notes that Google will make its budget Pixel 4a in Vietnam, starting April. The flagship Google Pixel 5 series will also join the Vietnam unit in the second half of 2020. The report notes that Google smartphones will begin production at a facility in northern Vietnam.

Apart from Vietnam, Thailand is another country that many tech giants are looking at. A few personnel with direct knowledge of Google's plan say that the company has been in talks with a long-time manufacturing partner to help set the production lines in Thailand.

The Thailand production line is said to be for Google smart home products like the Nest Mini smart speakers, cameras, and IoT products. The report notes that the first products from the Thailand unit will begin shipping in the first half of 2020.

 

Microsoft Production In Vietnam

Apart from Google, Microsoft is another company that is moving its production units out of China. Microsoft too will be heading to Vietnam and is reportedly scheduled to start producing its Surface line in North Vietnam in the second half of 2020.

Microsoft products including notebook and desktop computers will be made in Vietnam. "The volume in Vietnam would be small at the beginning, but the output will pick up and this is the direction that Microsoft wants," a supply chain executive told Nikkei.

Trade War, Coronavirus Reasons

Both Google and Microsoft have been planning to move the production base for a while now. Ever since the US-China trade war, a lot of American tech companies have been planning on moving out of China. Added to this, the deadly coronavirus is disrupting the supply and production lines further pushing the companies out of the country.