Who is really behind the Trump Mobile T1 phone?
In case you missed it, the Trump Organization announced yesterday that it plans to release a $499 Trump-branded, "built in the United States" phone later this year. A spokesperson for the Trump Organization doubled down on this claim to The Wall Street Journal, saying "manufacturing for the new phone will be in Alabama, California and Florida."
But unless the organization has somehow hidden an entire domestic mobile device supply chain right under our noses, this is virtually impossible. The T1 Phone, as it's called, lists some decent midrange specs like a 6.8-inch OLED 120Hz refresh rate screen. Offering it for $500 as soon as this fall? That would take a miracle. Case in point: a company called Purism makes a device called the Liberty Phone, which sources many of its parts from US companies and assembles it here. The cost? $2000, and you won't find something as luxurious as an OLED panel there.
More likely the T1 will be a white label device with most or all of its production handled by a Chinese ODM, or original design manufacturer. These dozen or so companies are responsible for as much as 44 percent of smartphone shipments globally, largely handling budget models while OEMs …