US President Donald Trump uses a mobile phone on the marine before departing from Leesburg Enforcement Airport in Leesburg, Virginia on April 24, 2025.
Alex Wroblewski | AFP | Getty Images
The Trump organization’s newly announced smartphone is likely to be made in China, experts say, despite claiming that the device will be manufactured in the US.
The company, owned by US President Donald Trump, announced on Monday the T1, a gold-colored device that it said would retail for $499. The smartphone runs Google’s Android operating system.
Trump’s organization says the phone will be “built in the US,” but experts point out that the phone is likely to be designed and manufactured by Chinese companies.
“There’s no way a phone was designed from scratch, it’s not assembled in the US or fully manufactured in the US,” Francisco Jeronimo, vice president of International Data Corporation, told CNBC on Tuesday. “That’s completely impossible.”
Jeronimo suggested that the phone is likely to be produced by the Chinese original device manufacturer (ODM). This is a type of company that designs and manufactures products based on the specifications of another company.
“Even though it is advertised as an American-made mobile phone, the device is likely to be initially produced by Chinese ODM,” Counterpoint Research analyst Blake Przesmicki said in a memo on Monday.
“Local manufacturing capabilities are not readily available in the US,” added Jeff Fieldhack, research director at CounterPoint Research.
The US president has put a lot of surveillance into the US, although smartphones have yet to be produced after Trump threatened tariffs on devices imported into the US. appleSupply chain encourages iPhone manufacturers to manufacture flagship handsets in the US. The call is part of a broader desire from Trump to ensure more electronics production takes place in the US.
Several experts point out that US manufactured iPhones are nearly impossible and that a massive increase in product prices will certainly rise. Plus, it will take years to remove the large US manufacturing industry from the ground.
Phones require foreign components
Even if some of the devices are manufactured in the US, the smartphone supply chain is global and mobile phone parts come from several countries.
The same goes for the Trump organization’s T1. Although no information is revealed for certain components, the specifications may give hints on what to expect.
The device has a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, a single screen created primarily by the Korean company Samsung. Another Korean company, LG, will also create screens, similar to the Chinese company BoE.
For comparison, Apple’s top-end iPhone 16 Pro Max has a 6.9-inch display, starting at $1,199.
At the $499 price range for the T1, the smartphone could use processors from Taiwanese company MediaTek, manufactured in Taiwan. If the device contains a Qualcomm Instead, it would also have to be made in Taiwan.
Meanwhile, a 50 megapixel camera on a mobile phone requires an image sensing chip. This is a market dominated by Japanese smartphone company Sony. There are small players in China and elsewhere.
Device memory is one of the areas where American technology can potentially be used from. micronmanufactures components in the US, but other players like Samsung in Korea could become potential suppliers.
“Even if local manufacturing is available, companies must rely on components imported from outside the US,” said Fieldhack of Counterpoint Research.
