- The Trump organization indicates that a new T1 phone will be launched in August
- It will be apparently “designed and built in the United States”
- But experts say that the phone is more likely to have Chinese origins
The Trump Mobile T1 phone is undoubtedly one of the strangest phones ever made, mixing strange specifications (a 3.5 mm headphone jack) with those that have no sense (“long 5000mah camera”). However, it is also delivered with a great statement that it will be “designed and built in the United States”.
Since analysts have recently told us that “the idea of making iPhones in the United States is a stretch”, is it really possible? Or will the manufacturing reality of the “elegant gold smartphone” be a little more complicated?
We asked experts in smartphone supply chain their verdict on the Trump Mobile T1 and if he can really achieve these high “made in the USA” goals.
With the T1 arriving in August for $ 499, it could theoretically steal a little thunder from the iPhone 17 of the rumor – but there are good reasons to suspect that Apple will not lose sleep on its unexpected rival and gold color of Trump Mobile …
The complaint
The Trump organization made generally daring affirmations on the T1 – it was billed as the phone that will trigger a new era in the manufacture of American phones.
In a press release, the family business Trump said the T1 was “proudly designed and built in the United States for customers who expect the best of their mobile operator”. Elsewhere, the site says it was “built for the patriots by the patriots”.
Explaining the statements, Eric Trump said on the Podcast “The Benny Show” that “all phones can be built in the United States of America”.
However, the Trump mobile site is running out of specific details on how Trump T1 way and phone. According to experts, there are good reasons to suspect that it will be at best ambitious …
The reality
- Experts agree that the Trump phone will not respond to its “Made in USA” claims
- It will probably be a modified Android phone from a Chinese manufacturer
- But the Trump Mobile T1 could theoretically still be assembled in the United States
The Trump Mobile T1 will not respond to the strict definition of “made in the USA” for several reasons, say the experts-and they also explain why the movement of iPhone in the United States is unlikely in the near future.
First, “Made in the USA” has a high bar. Professor Tinglong Dai, who teaches the Johns Hopkins University Carey Business School, said: “The FTC [Federal Trade Commission] To a strict standard for “made in USA”: all or almost all parts and treatment must be domestic. Judging by this standard, the complaint is not realistic. “”
But there could be ways to get around this. “The” Built in America “language of the Trump organization is not an official designation, so there is a lot of room for maneuver so that they do this affirmation,” added Dai.
Ben Hatton, market analyst at CCS Insight, agrees. “Our expectation is that the T1 phone will bypass this due to assembly in the United States using parts,” he told us.
On this subject, the editor-in-chief of Techradar as a whole, launches Ulanoff, also noted: “There is only one company that builds phones in the United States, the purism. Its specifications do not correspond. Even if it is assembled somewhere in Trump’s castle, they are almost certainly bred outside the United States.”
So what phone will the T1 be based on? This is still something of a mystery. “The phone will probably be a tailor -made Android smartphone from a Chinese manufacturer,” said Ben Hatton from CCS Insight. It seems very likely – we tried to put the T1 specifications in the GSMARENA phone researcher for existing phones, and he appeared empty.
Why can’t phones be made in the United States?
So, what does all this mean for the great ambition of manufacturing phones in the United States? And why is it not possible?
“The main challenge is that we do not have an end-to-end technological supply chain, and the United States does not have the manufacturing capacity of several key components. Even if we do, the lack of skilled workers would be a main bottleneck,” said Dai.
Ben Hatton de CCS Insight should be that the real phone “made in USA” is unlikely to occur for a long time, if never. “The United States is unlikely to have enough workforce with the right skills so that it is achievable in something other than the long term. The costs of the workforce would then go through the roof because of this shortage of skills,” he added.
“The upheaval of 50 years of evolution of the supply chain by ensuring that companies move from facilities would also completely signify the reshaping of these chains by making the United States the” focal point “rather than China,” he concluded. In other words, it is completely unrealistic and not compatible with the complexities of smartphones or our globalized technological world.
To summarize, Professor Tinglong DAI concluded: “A more important problem is that there is really no entirely domestic supply chain.” You may have read the classic test: “I, pencil”-even for something as simple as a pencil, you talk about dozens of countries behind, and it is before the current era of the supply chain, “he noted.
To see the equivalent for an iPhone, see the excellent infographic “ Mapping the iPhone ” from ArcGIS Storymaps, which shows how complex smartphones are complex.
Thus, although the Trump Mobile T1 can carry the “Made in the United States”, the experts agree that it will be at best “assembled in the United States”-and even it has not yet been officially confirmed before its August launch.
