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| Pixel 6 doubles Google's smartphone production |
Google has asked suppliers to produce more than 7 million upcoming Pixel 6 smartphones, double the number of shipments last year, as the US search giant tries to steal market share from Huawei.
Google is trying to use its position as the only manufacturer of Android smartphones in the US.
The company is also asking its suppliers to manufacture more than 5 million Pixel 5A phones, which were launched this spring. Data from IDC shows that smartphone shipments were just 3.7 million units last year.
This is the company's most open move yet to ramp up smartphone production. It also represents a drastic change from last year when the company was forced to cut production due to the disruption of the Corona virus epidemic.
The company announced to sellers that its position as the only Android smartphone maker in the US has helped grow its business in Europe and Japan.
The company's specific goal is to gain market share from Apple, Samsung and Xiaomi, the world's three largest smartphone makers, all of whom have benefited at Huawei's expense.
Before Washington severely restricted the Chinese tech company's access to American technology for national security reasons, Huawei smartphones and other devices ran on Google's Android operating system.
Most of the other major smartphone manufacturers, including Samsung, Xiaomi, and Oppo, use Android as the default operating system.
The company has high hopes for the Pixel 6, as it will be the first smartphone to feature the mobile's internal Tensor processor, which is what sets the company apart from the fierce competition.
Google wants to double smartphone production with the Pixel 6
In recent years, the search giant has pushed forward with its financial ambitions.
In 2018, the company completed a $1.1 billion deal to acquire part of the smartphone division of Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC and its 2,000 R&D staff to improve mobile phone capabilities.
The company currently has a hardware team of more than 4,000 people in Taiwan, which is the largest hardware development base outside the United States.
Pixel 6 is still produced in China. It did so after the pandemic destroyed the company's plan to move most of its smartphone manufacturing to northern Vietnam. Pixel 5A is manufactured in Southeast Asia.