Google Tries Something Retro: Made in the U.S.A.
June 27th, 2012I initially thought that this was just a PR stunt, and that the bulk of the components were manufactured in China and then shipped back to the U.S. for assembly. My maximally cynical guess turned out to be wrong. A lot of it is actually made in the U.S.
Via: New York Times:
Google’s Q links a TV or home sound system to the Internet cloud in order to play video and audio content downloaded from the Internet. The engineers who led the effort to build the device, which is based on the same microprocessor that is found in Android smartphones, and which contains seven printed circuit boards, said they had been able to almost completely source components from manufacturers in the United States.
Google was able to find a company to make the metal base in the Midwest and another supplier for the molded plastic components like the case in Southern California. Semiconductor chips are more of a challenge. In some cases, the chips are made in the United States, but then shipped to Asia to be packaged with other electronic components.
