Google Pixel 3 will reportedly be built by Foxconn, have a massive notch

Enlarge / This unsourced leak from China's Weibo service lines up nicely with Bloomberg's report. (credit: SlashLeaks)

We have our first reliable Pixel 3 rumor of the year. A report from Bloomberg claims that Foxconn will be the manufacturer for the Pixel 3 and details several aspects of the phone's new design.

Over the weekend, Android sites were buzzing about a smartphone screen-protector leak from the depths of China's Twitter-like Weibo social media service. We opted not to publish the leak because it was totally unsourced-no one was vouching for its authenticity. The new details from Bloomberg's report line up with the screen protector though, making it seem like a legit item.

First up: the manufacturing news. Bloomberg says Google is again planning a "Pixel 3" and "Pixel 3 XL," and just like Apple, the phone will be made by Foxconn. This implies the phone is more of an "in-house" job than Pixel devices in the past, since the Pixel 1, 1 XL, and Pixel 2 were all made as a collaboration between Google and HTC, while the Pixel 2 XL was made with LG. Earlier, Google made a $1.1 billion deal with HTC and one of its smartphone design teams, which consisted of 2,000 employees. Bloomberg's report says this team is "heavily involved" in the development of this phone. That deal only closed in January, so HTC's former team hasn't been around long enough to do a top-to-bottom in-house design, but they have apparently been around long enough to not need to involve an OEM like LG or HTC.

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