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Coronavirus

Google, Microsoft shift production from China faster due to virus

'Made in Vietnam' Pixel phones and Surface laptops expected in 2020

Industry watchers say Microsoft and Google are better positioned to shift production away from China than companies like Apple and HP. (Nikkei montage/source photo by Reuters) 

TAIPEI -- Google and Microsoft are accelerating efforts to shift production of their new phones, personal computers and other devices from China to Southeast Asia amid the worsening coronavirus outbreak, with factories in Vietnam and Thailand expected to be the beneficiaries, the Nikkei Asian Review has learned.

Google is set to begin production of its latest low-cost smartphone -- expected to be dubbed the Pixel 4A -- with its partners in northern Vietnam as soon as April. Google also plans to manufacture its next-generation flagship smartphone -- the Pixel 5, as it is expected to be called -- in the second half of 2020 directly from the Southeast Asian nation, two people with direct knowledge told Nikkei.

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