Latest news with #T1
The Star
7 hours ago
- Business
- The Star
Where is Trump's 'all-American' phone made? Analysts point to Asia
The search is on to identify the actual manufacturer behind the US$499 (RM 2,123) Trump Mobile T1 smartphone, as most supply chain analysts cast doubt on the claim by the US president's family that the device could be 'proudly designed and built in the United States'. China, the world's largest smartphone market since 2011, is also the hub of global manufacturing, with estimates ranging from a low of 60 per cent to a high of 80 per cent of worldwide production. One in three of the 187 disclosed suppliers that provide parts for Apple's iPhones is in China. Trump's T1 phone, encased in gold, features an AMOLED (active-matrix organic light emitting diode) screen that measures 6.78 inches, with a fingerprint sensor that supports facial recognition for unlocking. It has a main camera of 50 million pixels and runs on Google's Android 15 operating system, Trump Mobile said on its official website without naming its chip supplier. The phone comes with a subscription called the 47 Plan, priced at US$47.45 (RM201.90) a month, a nod to Trump's as the 45th and 47th US president. Instead of building a new nationwide cellular network, the 47 Plan resells the capabilities of all three major US carriers: T-Mobile, Verizon Communications and AT&T. The problem is, there are no AMOLED producers anywhere outside Asia, and the worldwide shipments are roughly equally shared by South Korean and Chinese manufacturers, said Joy Guo, the principal analyst of Omdia's displays group. There were five AMOLED producers in China that all produced locally, while South Korean plants were within the country and in Vietnam, she said. It does not end there. The typical smartphone comprised multiple components from the casing to the camera, the screen and the battery, most of which had to be sourced outside the US, which went against the claim that the phone was 'made in America', said Omdia's senior analyst Aaron West. 'Considering the overall production capacity, the completeness of the supply chain and the assembly yield rate, it is indeed very difficult or costly to achieve mass production in the US at this stage,' said Chiu Shih-Fang, a senior industry analyst at the Taiwan Institute of Economic Research, adding that the cameras and the printed circuit board 'can barely be sourced from the US'. To be sure, the US does make smartphones, although at a much higher price. Purism, a 10-year-old electronics maker based in San Francisco, is the only notable US smartphone maker, whose Liberty Phone starts at US$1,999 (RM 8,505) . 'If the Trump Phone is promising a US$499 (RM2,123) price tag with domestic manufacturing, this announcement looks to be classic vapourware,' said Purism's CEO Todd Weaver, according to a Tuesday report by Reuters. All the specifications and design features of Trump's T1 phone 'indicate that they are using an ODM (original design manufacturer) to manufacture the phone,' said West, adding that the final step of adding a gold skin can be done in the US. So who could be the actual ODM producer, and could Trump's 'made-in-USA' phone have Chinese parentage? Intrepid sleuths have uncovered two models that bear a striking resemblance to the T1. The first is the REVVL 7 Pro 5G phone, made by the Wingtech unit of Luxshare Precision Industry based in Shenzhen. It is priced at US$171.65 (RM730.37) on with a subscription plan for the US cellular phone network T-Mobile. The other doppelgänger is Umidigi's A15, featuring three back camera lenses arranged like those in the T1. The A15, made by Shenzhen-based Umidigi, is priced at a discounted US$129.99 (RM553.11) on AliExpress, operated by the Post's owner Alibaba Group Holding. Similar to Trump's T1, both Chinese models come with a 5,000 milliampere-hour (mAh) battery and 256 gigabytes of storage. They also take similar designs to equip the selfie camera in the top middle of the screen. But the A15, much cheaper than the Trump phone, has a better main camera with 64 million pixels. Officials at Wingtech, Luxshare and Umidigi did not respond to requests for comment. Trump Mobile, part of the Trump Organisation, did not immediately respond. 'Perhaps in the future it's possible to achieve complete assembly and production in the US, but the first batch of phones delivered is unlikely to be made in the US,' said Robin Wang, an analyst from technology research firm Runto. – South China Morning Post
New Indian Express
16 hours ago
- Business
- New Indian Express
Trump launches mobile phone service and $499 smartphone
The Trump Organization has announced a new mobile phone service and smartphone under the brand Trump Mobil', both set to launch in September. The plan, called The 47 Plan, will cost $47.45 per month and offer unlimited talk, text, and data. It will also include additional benefits such as roadside assistance and telehealth services. The company, owned by former U.S. President Donald Trump, will also release a $499 smartphone named T1. The phone features a gold-colored metal body etched with the American flag. According to the Trump Mobile website, the T1 runs on Android 15 and includes a 6.8-inch AMOLED screen with a 16-megapixel front camera. Other specifications include 12 GB of RAM, 256 GB of internal storage, and a 50-megapixel main camera. A screenshot on the website displays Trump's well-known slogan, "Make America Great Again." The venture is the latest in a series of Trump-branded products—including sneakers, watches, and Bibles—launched during his political career. While the Trump name is used for branding, the products and services are developed and sold by third parties through licensing agreements.
Engadget
17 hours ago
- Business
- Engadget
The golden Trump Phone is almost certainly not made in the US
Not content with a real estate empire and the presidency of the United States, the Trump family is wading into the phone wars like it's 2011 with a shiny gold monstrosity called the T1, the marketing of which leans extensively on the narrowest idea of patriotism. Beyond the immediate question — why do this, like, at all? — the T1 invites a question that's perhaps easier to interrogate: How can any modern smartphone claim to be made in the US? Over the last 40 years America has led a massive globalization effort that allows companies to pick and choose where they develop and build hardware that finds its way back to the US. The best chips to run your phone are built in Taiwan — regardless of the phone maker. The best phones are built in China, India or Vietnam. The displays are often produced in Korea. The glass is actually made in America. The sand that will eventually become the silicon wafers chips are made of is sourced here too. But most phones, and virtually all smartphones found in America, are globally produced devices. An all-American golden Trump phone is about as fantastical as the big, beautiful bill's promise to make all Americans rich. The phone has reasonable specs for the $499 price tag. There's a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a punch hole for the 16MP front camera, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage. Its rear array of cameras includes a 50MP main camera, a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens. Notably lacking in the spec list is the processor. Perhaps that's a typo, or perhaps that's because nearly all smartphone processors are made overseas. Multiple analysts have suggested the Trump T1 is actually a reskinned Revvl 7. That's a $200 Android phone currently offered by T-Mobile in the US and manufactured by Wingtech, a (partially) state-owned Chinese phone maker and semiconductor manufacturer. However the specs and outer appearance better align with the €180 (also about $200) Coolpad X100, which is mentioned as a 'related phone' to the T1 on the smartphone database GSMArena . Similarly, that phone has a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, 256GB of internal storage and up to 12GB of RAM, but its cameras are significantly higher resolution and it has a flash built into its camera module. It, like the Revvl 7, is manufactured in China by a Chinese company. Don Jr and Eric Trump haven't said if the T1 is a reskin of the Revvl 7 — or any other existing phone for that matter — instead insisting their device will eventually be made in the US. (Note that word 'eventually.' It is doing a lot of work.) The Trump brothers have chosen their words like lawyers are watching, likely because the Made in America claim they're making isn't just marketing, it's enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission. You can't just slap it on a crummy Chinese phone and call it a day. 'The FTC actually has very strict regulations on how you label products and country of origin,' Todd Weaver, CEO and Founder of Purism, told me. Purism is an American company that produces its own operating system to compete with iOS and Android and is the only company in the US which can actually use any part of the 'Made in America' claim for its phones. In our call he sounded a little irritated about the T1's claims, but was eager to explain how the labeling works. The Purism Liberty Phone. (Purism) 'I don't make that claim and I manufacture all the electronics in the US,' Weaver said. Purism had to go with a non-phone processor for the Liberty phone because no company based in America makes phone processors (yet). Even with a non-standard chip, Purism's processor comes from its supplier's fabrication in South Korea. He found it financially challenging to source a chassis in the US as well. An unqualified Made in America claim would mean that a phone was not just assembled here, but every single part of the device was manufactured here as well. That's an essentially impossible task for phone makers. It's why Purism's phone has the label Made in America Electronics instead. Weaver could get a lot, but not all of the parts manufactured in the US. While it's certainly theoretically possible the Trump brothers could take all the wealth they've been amassing since their father reentered the Oval Office to brute force a more American phone, it isn't happening any time soon. The Trump T1, which they claim will be sold in September, cannot carry that label, at least not legally. (Whether the current FTC would prosecute the president's sons for misrepresenting the T1 is another story entirely.) We've reached out to the FTC for comment and as of publishing have not heard back. So what about other pro-American manufacturing labels? The Trump Brothers have hinted that the phones will be assembled here — even if the Revvl 7 (or Coolpad X100) is currently not. Those labels are also governed by the FTC and they're not easy to get around. A simple "screwdriver" operation (importing almost entirely foreign parts and fitting them together in the States) is even provided by the FTC as a straightforward example of consumer deception. That's a lesson we all learned when Apple promised to start building computers domestically again. In 2019 it announced a big factory in Texas under pressure from the Trump administration to bring more manufacturing jobs to America. But even though people are putting screws into Mac Pros stateside, those can't carry the label 'Assembled in America.' Instead they're 'Designed in America' and a 'Product of Thailand' with 'Final Assembly in America.' It's a global device. Electronics are global devices and no amount of gold gilding or misleading claims from the sons of American presidents can change that. The best estimates from manufacturing experts claim it will be half a decade, minimum, before Apple or Samsung could be building phones in the US. Weaver has already mused about reporting the Trump brothers for claiming their gold-gilded T1 is Made in America, and noted that anyone (even you, dear reader) could do the same. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
Miami Herald
20 hours ago
- Business
- Miami Herald
Gavin Newsom Mocks Trump's ‘Made in China' Smartphone
California Governor Gavin Newsom has poked fun at the smartphone unveiled on Wednesday by the Trump Organization, jumping on the mounting doubts over whether it can honor its "made in America" branding. On Wednesday, the governor posted a link to a Daily Beast article entitled "Trump's New 'All-American' Smartphone Is Made in China," alongside the caption: "Oh." Newsweek has reached out to Trump Mobile, the new company marketing the phone, regarding its manufacturing origins. Despite the Trump Organization, the umbrella company for the president's business ventures, billing the phone as American-made, experts remain skeptical over whether the U.S. possesses the necessary infrastructure or technical know-how to manufacture the "T1" entirely on U.S. soil by its September launch or at the listed price of $499. Others have also noted similarities with other devices already on the market and which hail from China, raising further questions about this made-in-America designation. On Monday, the Trump Organization, control of which the president ceded to his eldest sons at the start of his second term, announced the launch of Trump Mobile, its flagship cellular service—"The 47 Plan"—and the T1 Phone, billed as a "sleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and proudly designed and built in the United States." Both Eric and Donald Jr. have repeatedly said that the phone will be manufactured in the U.S., though the former said that this would be done "eventually." A representative for the Trump Organization told The Wall Street Journal that manufacturing "will be in Alabama, California and Florida." But many have expressed doubts as to whether this is feasible, given the current disparity in manufacturing capabilities between the U.S. and China. Supply chain expert Tinglong Dai told Newsweek earlier this week that, "barring miracles, building a smartphone entirely in the U.S. by September is all but impossible." Many have also pointed out the striking similarities with existing Chinese-made models, casting further doubt on the "made-in-America" claim. The Daily Beast article mentioned by Newsom cited research from Apple Insider, which found that the body of the specifications of the new gold-colored phone match with the T-Mobile REVVL 7 Pro 5G, an Android built by Chinese company Wingtech and available on Amazon for as little as $169. Donald Trump Jr., vice president of the Trump Organization, in an interview with conservative host Benny Johnson, said the new phones were for users who want "American hardware, built by Americans here in America without the potential, you know, let's call it back door into the hardware that some of our adversaries may have installed in there." Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at International Data Corp, told CNBC: "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. That is completely impossible." Leo Gebbie, principal analyst at CCS Insight, told Fortune there was "no serious chance" of the phones being made in the U.S. in time for their launch date, and that this "absolutely does raise the specter of the Trump Organization mobile falling foul of the tariffs that have been instigated by the Trump administration." Robert Atkinson, founder and president of tech-focused think tank the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told Newsweek that the high costs of manufacturing a phone in the U.S. would preclude the possibility of the phone being sold at $499. "I suppose if tariffs were established on imported phones then it might be price competitive," he added, "but I doubt the price would be at or below $500, especially if the components (e.g., chips, camera, battery, screen, etc.) also had tariffs placed on them." Given the doubts expressed by experts, and conflicting messaging from the Trump Organization and Trump Mobile over whether and when the new phone will be manufactured in the U.S., questions remain over how the T1 will maintain the American-made designation that has marked its launch. Related Articles Gavin Newsom's Chances of Being 2028 Democratic Nominee Surge-PollMost Voters Back Sending Troops to Quell Riots, But Blame Trump for LA-PollGavin Newsom Responds to Donald Trump's ICE ThreatGavin Newsom Accuses Trump Administration of Spreading Fake Protest Images 2025 NEWSWEEK DIGITAL LLC.
CNBC
21 hours ago
- Business
- CNBC
This phone is made in the USA, and Trump's name isn't on it
President Donald Trump's family business is taking preorders for a gold-colored smartphone, the T1. Trump Mobile, which launched Tuesday, says the device will be available in September, cost far less than Apple's and Samsung's smartphones — and be made in the United States, aligning with the president's "America First" economic ethos. Industry experts and tech journalists instantly cast doubt on those claims. And if Carlsbad, California-based smartphone maker Purism is any example, it would take much more than two months for Trump Mobile to build an American-made smartphone from scratch. It would also most likely be more expensive than the T1's advertised price of $499. At $2,000, Purism's Liberty Phone is more expensive than an iPhone 16 Pro. It has half the iPhone's memory with roughly twice the thickness. You also can't download many apps on it. According to Todd Weaver, who founded Purism in 2014, it's the only U.S.-made smartphone on the market. But with "kill switches" to turn off its Wi-Fi, camera and microphone, the Liberty Phone is marketed as a secure option because it also carries its own operating system designed by Purism. It took a lot of time and effort to get to that point, Weaver told NBC News. Going from "I would like to make a phone and I would like to make it in the U.S." to actually achieving it took six years, he said. Purism's assembly line consists of just four people screwing together phones by hand — a far cry from the shoulder-to-shoulder line of people and automated machinery often associated with mass production facilities in China. The "Made in the USA electronics" sticker that Purism slaps on the product is a declaration of confidence — since the Federal Trade Commission regulates claims of that sort. Yet even Purism's built-in-America phone needs some foreign help. Ninety percent of its materials come from the United States, Canada or Europe. Among the components made elsewhere: a chassis from China, camera modules from China or South Korea and a Bluetooth module from India. Purism publishes that information online. For materials like a specific crystal necessary for the motherboard to operate, Purism says there are no options for U.S. sourcing, meaning there's no choice but to buy from China. "There just isn't a company yet providing that single crystal," Weaver said. The Trump Organization didn't respond to questions about how Trump Mobile's T1 phone would be made. Another issue looming over the market: Trump's ever-shifting trade policies. He recently threatened a 25% tariff on all smartphone imports, taking aim at manufacturers like Apple and Samsung, which make their phones abroad. "Again, when they build their plant here, there's no tariff, so they're going to be building plants here," he said last month. The percentage of the materials for Purism's phone that come from overseas is small enough that tariffs from the Trump administration wouldn't affect its $2,000 price. But the tariffs would affect a phone Purism does make in China, called the Librem 5. It's priced at $800, but new import duties would take it closer to the Liberty phone's $2,000 level. While tariffs are a "good incentive" for manufacturing in the United States, Weaver said, the administration's on-again, off-again approach makes it tough to plan. "It's terrible," Weaver said. "If you have no idea and you can't predict [the policy], it's very hard for any company, for any business owner. From T-shirts, textiles to high tech, it is very hard to make a long-term business decision when you're in a whipsaw."
