With this move, Google is positioning Vietnam as a more critical link in its smartphone supply chain.
Google is elevating Vietnam’s role in its smartphone supply chain. © Reuters
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Google will implement the New Product Introduction (NPI) process for its Pixel, Pixel Pro, and Pixel Fold lines in Vietnam. The budget-friendly Pixel A series will continue to be developed in China for the time being.
NPI—encompassing development, validation, and production process refinement—is considered the most critical phase in launching new electronic devices. This process requires hundreds of engineers from both the company and suppliers, along with significant investment in testing equipment and machinery to ensure the design can be mass-produced.
Participating in NPI is a point of pride for suppliers, demonstrating their capability to handle a client’s new products within the year.
Despite years of efforts to diversify their supply chains, both Google and Apple have continued to conduct smartphone NPI in China due to the complexity and challenges of establishing production from scratch in locations lacking mature supply ecosystems.
These recent developments come as the tech industry faces heightened uncertainty from the Trump administration’s tariff policies, which have significantly disrupted supply chains since April of last year.
“The goal is to achieve functionality, compatibility, and reliability suitable for mass production. If NPI fails, there will be no new product that year. Fortunately, this has never happened,” shared a source from an Apple supplier.
Given its importance, Apple is considering a “dual NPI” approach in both India and China as a safeguard, effectively doubling its resource investment to mitigate risks.
“Take Apple as an example: NPI at a single location requires the company to deploy 200–300 engineers to a supplier’s factory. The investment is massive,” noted another Apple supplier source.
If both Google and Apple successfully develop smartphones outside China, it would mark a significant milestone in the effort to shift production away from the world’s largest manufacturing hub, substantially upgrading non-Chinese supply chain networks and capabilities.
Google has already mass-produced premium smartphones and conducted certain validation processes in Vietnam, making it feasible to develop new phones from the ground up in the country.
China’s “obstacles” to equipment exports
However, relocating critical production development processes out of China is only part of the larger picture. Aggressive expansion of overseas production capacity remains challenging due to Beijing’s continued restrictions on exporting manufacturing equipment and relocating Chinese personnel.
Apple suppliers have faced stricter customs inspections, slowing capacity expansion plans in India. Similarly, Google’s plans to ramp up smartphone production capacity in Vietnam last year were delayed.
“Much of the production and testing equipment is made in China but is difficult to export to other countries because Beijing doesn’t want the manufacturing sector to hollow out. We need to be patient,” admitted a source supplying both Apple and Google.
Lori Chang, a senior analyst at Isaiah Research (Taipei), noted that the initial phase of supply chain diversification, as seen with Apple, primarily focuses on replicating partial production or assembly. Only when local technical capabilities and component supply mature can companies gradually move NPI outside China.
“The critical significance of NPI lies in establishing product definitions, testing standards, and stable mass production capabilities—key indicators of a supply chain’s ability to operate independently,” Chang explained.
From a market perspective, geopolitical factors and tariffs are also driving companies to relocate supply chains to reduce long-term costs.
Google’s actions in Vietnam and Apple’s in India reflect a broader tech industry trend: gradually reducing dependence on China and building more diverse, resilient supply chains in the face of geopolitical volatility.
– 09:27 14/01/2026
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