Trump's $499 smartphone will likely be made in China
The Trump Organization’s newly-announced smartphone will likely be made in China, experts say, despite claims that the device will be manufactured in the U.S.
“There is no way the phone was designed from scratch and there is no way it is going to be assembled in the U.S. or completely manufactured in the U.S.,” Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at International Data Corporation, told CNBC on Tuesday. “That is completely impossible.”
Jeronimo suggested that the phone would likely be produced by a Chinese original device manufacturer (ODM) — a type of company that designs and manufacturers products based on the specifications of another firm.
“Despite being advertised as an American-made phone, it is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese ODM,” Blake Przesmicki, an analyst at Counterpoint Research said in a note on Monday.
Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint Research added that “the U.S. does not have local manufacturing capabilities readily available.”
Smartphone manufacturing came into focus after Trump threatened tariffs on devices imported into the U.S. While those have yet to materialize, the American president has poured scrutiny on Apple’s supply chain, urging the iPhone maker to manufacture its flagship handset in the U.S. The call is part of a broader desire from Trump to see more manufacturing of electronics be undertaken in the U.S.
Several experts have noted that manufacturing iPhones in the U.S. would be nearly impossible and would certainly raise the price of the product substantially. On top of that, getting large-scale manufacturing off the ground in the U.S. would take several years.
Phone will need foreign components
Even if some manufacturing of the device were done in the U.S., smartphone supply chains are global, and handset components come from several countries.
The Trump Organization’s T1 is no different. While no information has been revealed on particular components, the specifications could give a hint of what to expect.
The device will have a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, a kind of screen that is made primarily by South Korean firm Samsung. LG, another South Korean firm, also produces the screen, as does Chinese firm BOE.
For comparison, Apple’s top end iPhone 16 Pro Max, has a 6.9-inch display and starts at $1,199.
At T1′s $499 price point, the smartphone will likely use a processor from Taiwanese firm MediaTek, which would be manufactured in Taiwan. If the device were to contain a Qualcomm chip instead, that would also likely have to be made in Taiwan.
The phone’s advertised 50 megapixel camera will meanwhile require image sensing chips — a market that is dominated by Japanese firm Sony for smartphones. There are smaller players in China and elsewhere.
The device’s memory is one area that could use American technology, potentially from Micron which manufactures its components in the U.S. But other players,
like South Korea’s Samsung, could be potential suppliers.
“Even when there is local manufacturing available the company will have to rely on components that are being imported from outside the US,” Counterpoint Research’s Fieldhack said.
Trump Mobile’s vow to make a $499 gilded smartphone in the US by this summer with some specs that exceed high-end Apple iPhones — and for a fraction of the price — has industry experts calling it fool’s gold.
The T1 phone touted by the president’s sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr. will feature a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen, 256GB of storage with expandable memory and a 50-megapixel rear camera array, according to its website.
Apple’s iPhone 16 Pro Max — which is mainly made in China — also offers a 6.8-inch screen and 256 gigabytes of storage, but the rear camera maxes out at 48 megapixels — and costs $1,199.
“There’s absolutely no way you could make the screen, get that memory, camera, battery, everything” in the US, Tinglong Dai, a Johns Hopkins University business professor, told the Wall Street Journal.
Even Eric Trump appeared to walk back that the T1 will be entirely manufactured and assembled in the US by its expected August launch date during an interview Monday with podcaster Benny Johnson.
Holding up what looked like a gold-plated iPhone, he said: “You can build these phones in the United States. Eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States of America. We have to bring manufacturing back here.”
The company said in a press release that the Android-based handset would be “proudly designed and built in the United States.”
Trump Mobile has not disclosed where the first wave of T1 phones will be built, or which suppliers will provide the components.
The Post has sought comment from Trump Mobile.
“If the Trump Phone is promising a $499 price tag with domestic manufacturing, this announcement looks to be classic vaporware,” said Todd Weaver, CEO of Purism, referring to the unlikelihood of a US-manufactured phone being available at that price.
Given the technical specifications and the $499 price point, analysts believe early units could originate from Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi or Oppo, which have the capability to produce premium Android phones at that cost.
Smartphones are produced through a complex global supply chain.
Key components like processors are typically designed in the US and manufactured in Taiwan, displays come from South Korea, camera sensors from Japan (Sony) and various other parts from suppliers in China, Europe and Southeast Asia.
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