Ex-Apple Executive To Join As Google India Policy Head As Company Explores Local Production

Sreenivasa Reddy, a former Apple executive, is set to take over as Google's India policy head.

In a bid to expand local hardware assembly in India, Alphabet-owned Google is set to appoint a manufacturing and policy veteran. Sreenivasa Reddy, a former Apple executive, is set to take over as Google's India policy head, said a report by news agency Bloomberg on Tuesday. Reddy is currently a senior engineering executive at tech giant Microsoft. He may join Google towards the end of this year, the report added, citing people familiar with the matter.

Sreenivasan's previous stints included holding senior positions at tech giant Apple's India regulatory team. He also headed government relations at the local unit of Swedish telecom gear maker Ericsson AB, and helped drive domestic manufacturing at both companies.

This move by the search engine giant is said to be helpful as the company is now looking to establish partnerships with Indian suppliers for the local manufacturing of Google Pixel smartphones. With this, Google would join the likes of global tech giants like Apple and Samsung to locally manufacture products in India. The company is already in talks with homegrown manufacturers such as Lava International, Dixon Technologies and Tawian's Foxconn's Bharat FIH for locally assembling the devices, a recent report by Bloomberg said.

Alphabet-owned Google assembled around 9 million Pixel devices last year, as per market intelligence firm Counterpoint Research, and according to the Bloomberg report, the discussions in India underscore its plans to shift its production base beyond China and Vietnam. The Pixel is among the highest-rated and sought-after flagship devices. 

To recall, last month, Technology Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had held discussions with Google CEO Sundar Pichai at the company’s headquarters in Mountain View, California. Their conversation apparently revolved around PM Modi’s push for local manufacturing and India’s state-backed technology push.

The central government has been encouraging local manufacturing and making India an alternative manufacturing hub, as more smartphone OEMs are looking to reduce dependency on China. To note, Apple's biggest contract manufacturer and partner Foxconn was in a severe crisis last year after the country's strict Covid-related restrictions disrupted the production of new iPhones and other devices in the country. Apple is also looking to avoid a hit to its business due to tensions between Beijing and Washington.

South Korean tech giant Samsung is also mulling to make India its smartphone manufacturing hub. To this end, it plans to make investments in research and development centers. It is also planning manufacturing facilities to further bolster the competitiveness of its products, the global head of Samsung was quoted as saying in a recent report by The Economic Times.