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

The Trump Organization announced on Monday a new push into telecommunications with the unveiling of Trump Mobile, and its "made in the USA T1 Phone".

3

In a new press release on the Trump.com website, Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump, and the team at Trump Mobile have unveiled T1 Mobile, a new cellular service intended to provide high-performance connectivity at "unbeatable value" for the US. Additionally, Trump Mobile is also going to release the T1 Phone in August, which will be a sleek, gold smartphone engineered for performance and "designed and built in the United States." The Trump Organization said it would retail the T1 Phone for $499.

As for the cellular service, the press release states it will offer a 5G service through all three major cellular carriers, with the flagship plan being called "The 47 Plan," a reference to President Trump being the 47th President of the United States. The 47 Plan will be available for $47.45 per month, and subscribers will receive the benefits listed below. A particular point of query that the Trump Organization has yet to shed some light on is the components within the T1 Phone.

As previously stated, the Trump Organization writes that the T1 Phone is "designed and built within the United States," which may lead consumers to think the entire device, including its components, is constructed within the US. This isn't specified anywhere on the TrumpMobile website or the listing page for the T1 Mobile. Given the price of the smartphone, it would be safe to assume the T1 Phone is outsourcing its components from large-scale manufacturing facilities. Notably, the US doesn't have many, if any, of these facilities.

"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," said Francisco Jeronimo, vice president at International Data Corporation, told CNBC on Tuesday

"Despite being advertised as an American-made phone, it is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese ODM," said Blake Przesmicki, an analyst at Counterpoint Research

The focus on creating an American-made smartphone has come on the heels of Trump threatening tariffs on devices imported into the US, which came with the goal of bringing manufacturing of such devices, and electronics in general, to the US. However, these plans cannot happen overnight, nor within the span of months since the US doesn't have the facilities to manufacture devices, such as Apple's flagship smartphone, to meet the demand.

3