Last year’s Google Pixel 4 saw one of the heaviest leak seasons of any smartphone, partially due to a change in Google’s production that saw the device manufactured in part out of Vietnam instead of China.
Now, a fresh report is confirming that both Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 will be produced in Vietnam, with the low-cost model starting production in April.
Nikkei Asian Review cites two sources with “direct knowledge” of Google’s plans that the Pixel 4a and Pixel 5 will both be produced out of Vietnam instead of China.
This shouldn’t come as any surprise, as last year, Google worked with partners to convert a Vietnamese factory for its Pixel production. At the time, this was partially a result of the ongoing US-China trade war, but it now has the added benefit for Google of avoiding some of the effects of the COVID-19 coronavirus outbreak. The outbreak may still have a significant impact on production, though, as components face delays as the virus expands to other regions of the globe.
Apparently, the virus also triggered Google to ask its suppliers to evaluate how feasible and expensive it might be to move some production equipment from China to Vietnam.
In its report, Nikkei mentions that Google plans to start production on its Pixel 4a smartphone in April — just over a month from now. That timeline makes sense, too, as Google’s track record pins the 4a’s launch date as Google I/O which, this year, takes place in mid-May.
Later this year, Google is also apparently planning to produce its Pixel 5 from this same location in Vietnam, though a specific timeline isn’t provided in the report. If Google follows its usual timeline, though, we can expect the Pixel 5 sometime in October.
Reporting by Ben Schoon @ 9to5google