Google gChips team to set up chip manufacturing in Bengaluru, India

Google may have started out as just a search engine, but the company has grown to encompass so much more.

Now, it looks like Google is diving headfirst into hardware, supposedly to build microchips for its own smartphones and other devices in future.

According to a Reuters report, recent opening posted on LinkedIn indicate the company has hired at least 20 engineers for what it calls its “gChips” team, and more are expected to be hired soon to. This team will be set up at a new site in Bengaluru, India’s technology development hub.

Intriguingly, at least 16 of those 20 employees are veterans in the field of semiconductor development, having worked with the likes of Intel, Qualcomm, Broadcom, and NVIDIA. Based on the report, and posts on Google’s own hiring platform, the team may likely grow to 80 members by the end of 2019. Their job is to “fine-tune and test” chip designs before sending final blueprints off to manufacturers.

At the moment, aside from processors for its data servers, Google only makes the image processing chips in its Pixel smartphones. Investing more in chip development, especially in India where Android has a higher market share than Apple compared to the US, could significantly boost their profit margins.

This also comes close on the heels of news that Apple wants to manufacture more of its devices in India. As opposed to just the cheaper iPhone SE and 6S, it’s been said the company also wants to assemble the iPhone X here in order to make it more affordable for the local market.