Trump's $499 smartphone will likely be made in China

CNBC

3 days ago

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.
Owned by U.S. President Donald Trump, the company on Monday announced the T1, a gold-colored device which it said would retail for $499. The smartphone will run Google's Android operating system.
The Trump Organization says the phone will be "built in the United States" — but experts note the phone was likely designed and would be manufactured by a Chinese firm.
"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.
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.