Google has been active in the Asia-Pacific region, increasing investments in Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and more. Google CEO Sundar Pichai also visited Japan to participate in an Asia-Pacific town hall meeting with employees, discussing key topics such as the Pixel supply chain, AI localization, and the significant growth potential of cloud services.
Google recently announced a US$1 billion investment in Thailand for building data centers and cloud regions, while committing US$2 billion in Malaysia for similar projects. In Indonesia, Google's charity organization, Google.org, donated US$7 million to the ASEAN Foundation and EduFarmers.
During the town hall meeting, Google members highlighted important recent developments in the Asia-Pacific region, including the launch of Pixel smartphones manufactured in India, the production of 500,000 Chromebooks in Pakistan, and a significant increase in Pixel's market share in Japan.
Pichai noted that the Indian market is experiencing strong growth, and the large Pixel team in Taiwan is not coincidental. There remains considerable potential for cloud services in the Asia-Pacific region.
Ruth Porat, Google's president and chief investment officer, mentioned that 64% of global mobile app downloads occur in the Asia-Pacific region. Following the annual developer I/O conference, approximately 2,000 developers participated in the I/O Connect event held in India in July, while around 3,000 attended the Beijing I/O Connect event in August, showcasing robust momentum.
Developer results include mobile games and apps related to EVs. Chinese OEMs like Oppo and OnePlus are also utilizing the Gemini model to upgrade smartphone features.
On the other hand, while Pixel smartphones have limited market shares in various countries, they have shown particularly impressive results in Japan. Data from Counterpoint Research indicated that in the first quarter of 2023, Google Pixel became the second-largest brand in Japan's smartphone market for the first time, with a market share of about 9%, trailing only Apple.
Another Google member pointed out that Pixel is relatively late to the smartphone market and has invested considerable effort in building trust with consumers and partners in Japan, including telecom and media companies like KDDI, Docomo, and SoftBank.
