Google is reportedly planning to move the production of its Pixel smartphones, smartwatches, and wireless earbuds out of China from 2027. The move is hardly surprising: persistent US-China tensions are prompting technology majors to diversify their supply chains and reduce their dependence on one country. Vietnam and India are expected to be the principal beneficiaries, although Vietnam has an early advantage.
Google already has a well-established supplier network there and has reportedly begun developing and manufacturing its high-end Pixel smartphones in the country. This is an opportunity India can’t afford to miss. Admittedly, India cannot yet boast of a manufacturing ecosystem as large or sophisticated as China’s. Nor does it possess Vietnam’s product-development and design capabilities or its Samsung-led network of smartphone suppliers, engineers, and factories. But these gaps are precisely what India must now work to close.
India’s efforts to position itself as a global manufacturing hub have begun to yield results. Apple, which started assembling iPhones in Bengaluru through Wistron, now works with several manufacturers including Tata Electronics and Foxconn. India produces roughly one in every five iPhones sold globally, while iPhone exports from the country crossed $23 billion in calendar year 2025.
More than 40 companies now reportedly make components and accessories for Apple devices. Overall electronics exports touched a record of nearly $48 billion in FY26, signalling that the country is becoming an important part of global electronics supply chains. Critics rightly point out that domestic value addition remains relatively low, at around 20-22%, and that manufacturers continue to depend heavily on imported sub-assemblies and high-value components such as semiconductors and displays. But the ability to manufacture sophisticated products cannot be built overnight. The real concern would be if India remained content with assembly instead of acquiring the technological and design capabilities required to move up the value chain.
Google may not initially shift the development and manufacture of its most advanced Pixel devices to India. Even so, India must secure a meaningful portion of the production technology companies relocate from China. While the production-linked incentive scheme has demonstrated that targeted incentives can help overcome hudles, subsidies cannot permanently compensate for deficiencies in infrastructure, logistics, skilled labour, and the ease of doing business.
Global manufacturers need reliable power, efficient ports, predictable regulation, and a deep base of local suppliers. They also need confidence that factories can be established and expanded without being slowed by multiple clearances, policy uncertainty, or high compliance costs. The next phase of policy must therefore concentrate as much on strengthening the component ecosystem and developing skills as on attracting headline investments.
This matters well beyond electronics. At a time when India is seeking larger flows of foreign direct investment, an advanced manufacturing base capable of handling complex production can become a powerful magnet for global capital. Yet manufacturing’s share of real GDP has remained broadly unchanged at around 17-18%, well short of the long-standing ambition of raising it to 25%.
As geopolitical tensions persist and multinationals diversify their risks, India has a rare opening to become a reliable link in global supply chains across industries. Apple has shown what is possible when policy support and corporate strategy come together. The task now is to replicate that success across more companies and products — and ensure that India does not merely make more, but makes more of the value embedded in them.