Google building its own chips for Chromebooks, ramping up Pixel plans

Seeking Alpha

September 1, 2021

• Google (GOOG +0.9%, GOOGL +1%) is building its own central processing chips for its Chrome-based laptops and tablets, Nikkei reports – a further move into working on its own silicon.
• Google is set to use in-house Tensor chips in its upcoming Pixel phone line, replacing a main chip provided by Qualcomm.
• Google will roll out the CPUs for laptops/tablets around 2023, according to the report.
• Building its own chips into Chromebooks would mark another data point in the moves by various tech giants to customize their semiconductor approaches – notably Apple, which has moved into semiconductor components for iPhones as well as working to replace Intel CPUs in its personal computers, but also Facebook, Microsoft, Tesla, Baidu and Alibaba.
• Google’s work on phone chips and Chromebook chips are based on the chip blueprints of SoftBank-controlled Arm Holdings.
• Meanwhile, heightened expectations for the Pixel 6 line means Google is asking suppliers to prepare 50% more production capacity compared to 2019’s pre-pandemic level, Nikkei says.