Trump Mobile Draws Attention to Purism's $1,999 Liberty Phone
The Trump Organization drew headlines last week when it announced the launch of Trump Mobile, a cell service with plans to release a gold T1 phone in September. One of its selling points, according to the website, is that the T1 phone is "Proudly made in America," though that does not appear it will be the case when the phone launches, among other issues.
An independent phone maker based in San Francisco, however, has been working on the closest thing to a smartphone made almost entirely in the US: The $1,999 Liberty Phone. Purism, which has been around since 2014, says its handset, which has a 5.7-inch screen and runs a proprietary operating system called PureOS, is primarily made in Texas and California with almost all of its manufacturing and assembly done domestically.
The exceptions, according to its website, are a Chinese-made chassis and some chip components sourced to China or India. Its main processor is made by Austin-based NXP and was originally intended for automobiles.
The Trump Mobile launch has raised questions as to whether it's possible to manufacture a smartphone entirely in the United States and release it at a price most customers could afford. Nearly all modern smartphones contain parts assembled primarily in China or other countries including South Korea, Vietnam or India.
In a conversation with the Wall Street Journal, Purism founder Todd Weaver said his company has sold fewer than 100,000 at a cost to the company of about $650 each and are not expected to compete with the latest iPhone or Samsung devices.
"On the consumer side, it's security geeks, parents who want a phone for their kid, elderly people or people who want to avoid big tech," Weaver said of his customers. "Someone who needs a wicked-strong camera is not our audience."
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