Analysts and supply chain experts are not sold on the Trump Organization, touting its new smartphones as “built in the United States,” he said, in fact, the $499 device is actually made in China.
Trump Organization, Trump Family Real Estate, Hospitality and Entertainment Group, announced Monday License its name Wireless service for Trump Mobile and its golden “T1” smartphone are scheduled to be released in August. The device will use a wireless provider called Liberty Wireless and will be available in Google Android operating system.
Trump organized announcement Touted phones as “proudly designed and built in the United States,” but analysts say conglomerates are more likely to outsource manufacturing capabilities to original equipment manufacturers (ODMs) overseas, at least in the short term, because the U.S. does not have the manufacturing capabilities to build phones.
“Although it was advertised as a US-made phone, the device may have been initially produced by Chinese ODM,” Blake Przesmicki, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, said in a note released on Monday.
He said that even if the U.S. does have smartphone production capacity, the company must rely on components imported from overseas.
Trump Organization did not respond wealthMake a request for comment.
Trump Organization Executive Vice President Eric Trump acknowledged that Trump Mobile was not originally a complete domestic effort.
“Ultimately, all mobile phones can be built in the United States of America,” Trump said. Benny performs The podcast will be on Monday, indicating that the device is being produced or assembled overseas before it launches in August.
Manufacturing limitations
President Donald Trump tries to Jump domestic manufacturing By imposing comprehensive tariffs, experts have long warned of production restrictions in the United States. appleFor example, building supply chains in China in the 1990s, moving them would require a lot of procurement of alternatives and increased labor costs, which would drive the cost of US-made iPhones Over $3,000Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said previously.
These barriers to expanding U.S. production are almost universal, Przesmicki said.
Przesmicki told wealth. “Our supply chain is weak, with less capability in the smartphone space and lower profit margins.”
Przesmicki suggests that if any Trump-branded phone is to be made on U.S. soil, it will be small-scale, about 1,000 phones or fewer phones. Leo Gebbie, chief analyst at CCS Insight, told wealth The Trump organization has arranged for “no serious chance” to make T1 phones in the United States, especially before the release in August.
“It is fantasy to be able to replicate this idea in the United States in any form of short- to medium-term timeline,” Gaby said. “It’s an absolute dream.”
Instead, according to Gebbie, the T1 phone may have a final assembly phase in the United States, which will allow the company to avoid substantial investment in domestic manufacturing by simply importing all components. He said the strategy may be closer to the Trump Organization’s intentions when “building” mobile phones in the United States
Trump is not immune to his own tariffs
Import of telephone components, most of which are Made in Chinawill provide the Trump Organization with another supply chain to fight the tariffs imposed by Trump for the clear purpose of dissuading trade with China.
“This will definitely raise the ghost of the Trump Organization, violating tariffs incited by the Trump administration,” Gaby said.
“Ultimately, whether we’re talking about screens or whether we’re talking about camera technology, whether we’re talking about chipsets, processors and smartphones, almost all of this comes from the same manufacturing center in Asia,” he added.
The president threatened last month 25% tariff On smartphones not produced in the United States and slamming Apple for producing iPhones in India, about 20% of its total production. Trump warned him A 25% levy On Apple products, if the company does not transfer manufacturing to the United States
Apple announced in February Invest $500 billion Expand U.S. factories in the next four years.
Gebbie suggested that the Trump Organization emphasizes that building mobile phones in the United States (although domestic manufacturing is unlikely) sending messages to big companies to show that the US smartphone conference is possible.
“Maybe it provides leverage for the Trump administration to go out with device manufacturers like Apple Samsung Say, “Hey, we’re tagging smartphones in the US, why not?”
