Did you know: Pixels and iPhones are actually made by the same company

Considering that Google and Apple are fierce rivals, most people are surprised to learn that Pixels and iPhones are actually made by the same company. While it may seem weird, it’s actually common practice in the world of not only smartphones but electronics in general.

But who is this mysterious company behind your favorite smartphone, why do both Apple and Google use it, and which other companies are also on its client list?

First things first: What does “made by” really mean

Before we get into all the details about the company behind Pixels and iPhones, we first need to clarify how smartphones are actually made and what the word “made by” really means in the context of this post, just to clear some of the confusion.

Making a smartphone is quite the process, and neither Google nor Apple has its own factories set up. Instead, they hire specialized companies that offer Electronics Manufacturing Services (EMS). These companies provide the service of physically assembling electronic products and are commonly referred to as assembly partners in the tech industry.

An EMS company like this usually doesn’t manufacture anything under its own brand (though there are exceptions). It is instead focused solely on producing products for other client companies. This makes sense for a lot of reasons, especially for smaller market players. For example, a company like HMD Global (behind Nokia phones) likely doesn’t have enough financial resources to set up its own manufacturing facilities, and even if it did, the economics wouldn’t make sense since its smaller production volume wouldn’t justify the huge cost of running a dedicated factory. It’s simply easier and less risky to outsource production, which was the right move considering the fact that things aren’t looking great for the company at the moment

It also makes sense for bigger companies like Google and Apple. By outsourcing production, they can focus on their core business — design, software, and custom chips — and leave the complex manufacturing logistics to partner companies that specialize in it.

Crucially, when we talk about an EMS company “making” a phone, we don’t mean they manufacture every single part of it. Its job is to make the final product by assembling it. The process is a chain:

• Component manufacturing: All the individual parts that make up a phone are manufactured by different specialist companies.
• Assembly (FATP): These components then get shipped into the factory of the EMS provider for final assembly, testing, and packaging.

If we take a phone like the Pixel 10 as an example, the display is made by Samsung, the custom System-on-a-Chip (SOC) is manufactured by TSMC, the protective glass comes from Corning, and so on. All these components are shipped to the EMS provider, which then precisely puts them together into the finished product according to the client’s specifications.

So, who is the company behind Pixels and iPhones?

The company that assembles both Pixels and iPhones is Foxconn, formally known as the Hon Hai Technology Group. It is based in Taiwan but has manufacturing facilities in several countries. Foxconn is the biggest EMS company in the world, claiming to take up more than 40% of the entire market.

To give you a sense of Foxconn’s sheer size, the company has roughly 900,000 employees worldwide. Its manufacturing facilities are spread across 24 countries, including major hubs in China, India, Vietnam, Mexico, and even the US. For reference, Google and Apple have fewer than 200,000 employees each.

Not only does Foxconn make iPhones, but it also assembles a few other Apple products, including MacBooks and iPads. It’s said to be Apple’s largest manufacturing partner. Apple is quite transparent about its partnership with Foxconn and even lists it as one of its suppliers on its website. Google, on the other hand, never actually confirmed its Pixel phones are made by Foxconn, but the evidence is clear that the two companies are working together. As an example, a high-level Indian politician gave a statement to the press last year, saying that Google is partnering with Foxconn to produce its Pixel phones in India.

With so many employees and factories, you can imagine that Foxconn isn’t only working with Apple and Google. Its client list is long, and the company makes some of the most in-demand electronics in the world. Here are just a few products Foxconn makes.

• Gaming consoles: It assembles the Xbox and PlayStation gaming consoles, as well as the Nintendo Switch.
• E-readers: It builds Kindle e-readers for Amazon.
• PCs: It handles specific computer products for the world’s major brands.

The simple truth is this: not only are the iPhone and Pixel often assembled by Foxconn, but a lot of your favorite electronics come out of the same manufacturing giant’s ecosystem.

There’s more to the story

You’ve probably heard the expression, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket,” right? This simple saying is the foundation of risk management, which is exactly what Google and Apple are doing. While Pixels and iPhones are assembled by Foxconn, both companies aggressively work to mitigate risk by using other manufacturing partners as well.

Relying on a single manufacturer is inherently risky. If Foxconn is the sole assembler, it gains too much leverage over pricing and timelines. By using multiple EMS providers, Google and Apple:

• Gain negotiation power: They force companies like Foxconn and its rivals to compete for contracts, which lowers costs.
• Ensure resilience: If one line goes down, production can be rapidly shifted to another partner.

Then there’s the art of keeping up with demand. The sheer scale of modern smartphone launches requires an army of assembly lines working simultaneously. Apple and Google must make sure they can produce millions of phones to keep up with intense global demand, especially at launch and during holiday seasons. Having more manufacturing partners ensures they can achieve that high-volume goal without supply bottlenecks.

Companies have to take location into account as well. Manufacturing in just one country (historically China) is risky, as a foreign government can increase tariffs on imports from that region, making the product suddenly more expensive for key consumer markets like the US. That’s why both Apple and Google are strategically pushing their partners to manufacture in different countries across the globe.

This strategy protects them from political instability and trade wars, ensuring they can avoid potentially punishing tariffs by using facilities in countries like India and Vietnam. This is what is happening in the world today with Trump’s tariffs, which are a clear signal to companies that having manufacturing partners in different countries is a smart move.

So, while Foxconn is a big manufacturing partner that works with both Google and Apple, it’s far from the only one. The two companies are also in business with other EMS providers like Pegatron, Luxshare Precision, and the Wistron, just to name a few. However, companies like Apple and Google maintain non-negotiable quality demands, guaranteeing that every assembled phone meets identical standards regardless of the EMS provider or factory location.