Google gearing up to design and manufacture own smartphones

Google’s Android is one of the most widely used mobile platforms, but the tech conglomerate has till now relied solely on partnerships with major handset makers like LG, Huawei, and HTC to develop the hardware for it—Nexus. All that will soon change as Google is gearing up to shift its standard strategy in order to design and manufacture a smartphone on its own.

Manufacturing Google branded phones seem to be a natural way forward for the tech giant, especially after it set up its own hardware division at the end of April. Google appointed former Motorola president Rick Osterloh to run it, bringing company’s various gadget projects under a single umbrella.

Google CEO Sundar Pichai had suggestively said last month that the company is investing a lot more effort into phones, but didn’t specify whether it would begin building its own handsets.

But the most interesting thing to observe what will Google’s direct involvement in mobile hardware manufacturing space mean for all other hardware firms Google partners with to build Android devices. Google is currently in talks with mobile operators to release the phone by the end of this year.

However, it is not clear if Google will terminate its partnership with the hardware makers, or if the company will close up access to Android, much like Apple. The latter is unlikely, as Android enjoys more than 80 percent of the mobile OS market share globally, because of its open nature where manufacturers can customize and market products for various price ranges, languages, and regional preferences.