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Has HTC lost its Google Pixel manufacturing gig?

When Google outed the Pixel phones last summer, it did so under a ‘Made by Google’ slogan. Well, seasoned observers will remember, that wasn’t entirely true.

Although Google played a larger role in the design, the phones were actually manufactured by HTC, although the Taiwanese firm’s branding was nowhere to be found on either the Pixel or Pixel XL handsets.

Related: Google Pixel review

Now it seems that HTC will be passing on the anonymous mantle to LG, which has reportedly been recruited to build the second-generation Pixel phones.

The news comes via 9to5Google, with a reporter trawling the Android bug tracker to find evidence LG is building the device codenamed ‘Tamien’.

The report sheds light on an Google employee asking his LG counterpart to move a bug to a different board.

The file path for that board? “Android > Partner > External > LGE > Taimen > power.”

Android Police says it has been able to independently verify the report.

https://twitter.com/statuses/874444753609281536

Just yesterday the site’s sources said Google had dropped the larger Pixel 2 device, codenamed Muskie, in favour of an even larger device dubbed Tamien.

Will the Pixel 2’s manufacturer make much difference to the overall quality of the phone? Lend us your thoughts in the comments section below.

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