Trump’s Gold-Plated Smartphone Is Probably Being Made in China, According to Experts
President Trump’s company on Monday announced the launch of a new 5G wireless service, along with a $499 Android phone — which it said is “proudly designed and built in the United States.”
But the “sleek,” gold-colored T1 Phone, which is supposed to be available starting in September, is almost surely being manufactured in China, given its price point and specifications, according to tech experts. The Trump Mobile T1 Phone is listed as having a 6.8-inch AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting diode) screen with a 120-Hz refresh rate.
“Despite being advertised as an American-made phone, it is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese [original design manufacturer],” Counterpoint Research analyst Blake Przesmicki wrote in a June 16 note.
In an interview with CNBC, Nilay Patel, editor in chief of tech news site The Verge, said, “I don’t think [Trump Mobile is] going to sell a phone that has anything to do with the United States on any kind of timeline that makes sense.” He said that the only phone that could be available for $499 by September would be “undoubtedly a rebranded Chinese Android phone.”
Max Weinbach, an analyst at research firm Creative Strategies, in a post on X, said the T1 Phone is likely being made by Wingtech, which is owned by Chinese company Luxshare. “Same device as the T-Mobile REVVL 7 Pro 5G, custom body,” Weinbach wrote in the post. “Wingtech, now owned by Luxshare, makes it in Jiaxing, Wuxi, or Kunming China.”
Representatives for Trump Mobile did not respond to an inquiry about what company is manufacturing the T1 Phone.
In an email to the Wall Street Journal, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said “manufacturing for the new phone will be in Alabama, California and Florida.” However, in a podcast interview Monday, Eric Trump said that the T1 Phones would “eventually” be made in the U.S.
“You can build these phones in the United States,” Eric Trump told Benny Johnson on Monday morning on “The Benny Show.” “Eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States of America. We have to bring manufacturing back here.”
Tinglong Dai, a professor of operations management and business analytics at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School, told the Wall Street Journal that it would probably take at least five years before the U.S. has the infrastructure necessary to fully manufacture smartphones in the country. “There’s absolutely no way you could make the screen, get that memory, camera, battery, everything” in the U.S. by this fall, Dai said.
But the “sleek,” gold-colored T1 Phone, which is supposed to be available starting in September, is almost surely being manufactured in China, given its price point and specifications, according to tech experts. The Trump Mobile T1 Phone is listed as having a 6.8-inch AMOLED (active matrix organic light emitting diode) screen with a 120-Hz refresh rate.
“Despite being advertised as an American-made phone, it is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese [original design manufacturer],” Counterpoint Research analyst Blake Przesmicki wrote in a June 16 note.
In an interview with CNBC, Nilay Patel, editor in chief of tech news site The Verge, said, “I don’t think [Trump Mobile is] going to sell a phone that has anything to do with the United States on any kind of timeline that makes sense.” He said that the only phone that could be available for $499 by September would be “undoubtedly a rebranded Chinese Android phone.”
Max Weinbach, an analyst at research firm Creative Strategies, in a post on X, said the T1 Phone is likely being made by Wingtech, which is owned by Chinese company Luxshare. “Same device as the T-Mobile REVVL 7 Pro 5G, custom body,” Weinbach wrote in the post. “Wingtech, now owned by Luxshare, makes it in Jiaxing, Wuxi, or Kunming China.”
Representatives for Trump Mobile did not respond to an inquiry about what company is manufacturing the T1 Phone.
In an email to the Wall Street Journal, a spokesperson for the Trump Organization said “manufacturing for the new phone will be in Alabama, California and Florida.” However, in a podcast interview Monday, Eric Trump said that the T1 Phones would “eventually” be made in the U.S.
“You can build these phones in the United States,” Eric Trump told Benny Johnson on Monday morning on “The Benny Show.” “Eventually, all the phones can be built in the United States of America. We have to bring manufacturing back here.”
Tinglong Dai, a professor of operations management and business analytics at Johns Hopkins University’s Carey Business School, told the Wall Street Journal that it would probably take at least five years before the U.S. has the infrastructure necessary to fully manufacture smartphones in the country. “There’s absolutely no way you could make the screen, get that memory, camera, battery, everything” in the U.S. by this fall, Dai said.