Will switch to India-made Pixel once it's ready: Anand Mahindra

Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, took to microblogging platform X (formerly Twitter) to say that he would switch to a Made in India Google Pixel phone once it hits the markets.

“I have a Google Pixel. I will switch to the India-made version when it’s out. So I’ll be able to tell them my Pixel is made in India too.”



By them, Mahindra was referring to people he interacted with during a recent visit to a store in the US. He shared details of that interaction on the social media platform. “I recently was in a Verizon store in the US to get a local sim and proudly informed the salesperson that my iPhone 15 was made in India. It was a particular pleasure to see his raised eyebrows!” he posted.

On Thursday, Google announced that it will begin manufacturing the recently launched Google Pixel 8 series in India, and that the devices could hit the markets as early as next year.

Rick Osterloh, senior vice-president, devices and services, said during the Google for India event that the tech giant has partnered with international and domestic manufacturers to produce the device in India. “This is an early step towards expanding the production here to meet the local demand for Pixel devices,” he added.

India is known for manufacturing a variety of goods —from leather items and gems and jewellery to petroleum and pharmaceutical products. But, over the past couple of years, the country’s stature in IT and electronics’ equipment manufacturing has seen steady growth.

The government’s Make in India push and Production-linked incentive schemes have greatly contributed to this growth, and attracted big names to set up manufacturing bases in the county.

Google’s move comes at a time when its rival Apple is rapidly expanding its footprint in India. Exporting 49% of the country’s total 12 million shipments in the June quarter, it recently outpaced Samsung as the largest player in terms of India’s smartphone exports.

Apple will also locally produce the iPhone 15 Plus in the next quarter, having commenced production of the lower-priced base model of the series in India.