Trump’s mobile phone reveals: Is it actually made in China to claim that American production harvests fans? – Passionategeekz –

[CNMO Technology]2025 marks the tenth anniversary of Donald Trump’s first candidacy for the US president. At such a time point, the Trump Group, a family-owned company, launched a high-profile mobile communications brand called “Trump Mobile” on June 17, and announced that it will release its own smartphone, T1. This operation is not only a marketing of the sentiment of “Made in the United States” and a re-activated Trump’s brand fan economy. However, with the in-depth exploration of media and social networks, a marketing campaign that boasts of “Made in America” ​​was eventually discovered to be “Made in China”?

Entering the communications industry: The new business of the Trump brand

Trump Mobile’s official website and promotional materials are full of “patriotic feelings”, and the introduction specifically emphasizes words such as “American customer service center”, “Next generation wireless service provider” and “Bring mobile phone manufacturing back to the United States”. Even its core tariff package is named “The 47 Plan” in honor of Trump’s identity as the 47th US president.

“Plan 47” package

The monthly fee for the plan is US$47.45 (about RMB 340), the package provides unlimited voice, SMS and data services (the first 20GB is high-speed), and also packages additional services such as international calls, telemedicine, drug delivery, car road rescue, equipment protection, etc. On the surface, this combination seems to be worth the money, but the actual service is provided by a third party. The official website has little further explanation of the scope of use, additional fees, etc., and may contain other hidden charges.

In addition, Trump Mobile is not a real network operator, but an MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) that provides services to users by renting network resources from operators such as AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile. This means that it does not build its own communication infrastructure, but rather conducts business by reselling existing network resources, which is essentially a skin-replacement sales.

T1 smartphone: “Made in the United States” is actually a replacement for the shell made in China?

While launching the service, Trump Mobile also launched a smartphone called “T1”, which is positioned directly against the iPhone 17 and plans to go on sale in August, one month earlier than Apple’s new phone. The phone is priced at US$499 (about RMB 3,584), and a deposit of US$100 is required to be paid in advance for pre-order. In the official slogan, Trump Mobile described it as a “product designed and manufactured in the United States”, and even emphasized many times in press conferences and media interviews that this is a symbol of “let the United States re-made mobile phones.”

Trump Mobile T1 Smartphone

But reality quickly exposes this layer of “patriotic” packaging.

Max Weinbach, a well-known technology analyst, revealed on his personal social platform that through its comparison, it was found that the specifications and appearance of the T1 phone were very similar to the model of a REVVL 7 Pro 5G released by T-Mobile earlier. This REVVL mobile phone is produced by Chinese manufacturer Wingtech Technology, and its parent company is Luxshare Precision, which also comes from China. This series of mobile phones is usually assembled and produced in factories in Jiaxing, Wuxi, Kunming and other places. In other words, the T1 is likely to be just a repackaged version of this phone, replaced with a golden case and slightly adjusted camera layout.

Revvl 7 for 5g

Even more ironic, the device’s lowest price on Amazon fell to $169 (about $1,214), while Trump Mobile sold it for $499, nearly tripled.

“Made in the United States” to harvest fans?

Trump Mobile repeatedly emphasized in its publicity that T1 is a product “designed and manufactured in the United States”. But with a little analysis, we can see that this statement is logically difficult to hold.

First of all, the current domestic production rate of mobile phone parts in the United States is very low. The core components such as AMOLED screen, VCSEL laser components (used to AI face unlock), USB-C interface, camera module, memory chip, etc. used by T1 are almost all from overseas supply chains. At present, there is no local manufacturer of AMOLED screens in the United States, nor is there a large-scale production camera module factory.

Blogger questioned T1’s identity

As for the chip part, although Qualcomm is a US company, its chip manufacturing mainly relies on overseas foundries such as TSMC. Even TSMC’s factory in Arizona is far from capable of mass production of mobile phone chips. Therefore, from the perspective of components, this phone is hardly called “Made in the United States”.

Secondly, if it is really made in the United States, the cost of the machine will not match the pricing. If you really assemble your mobile phone in the United States, even in states with well-built infrastructure, you will face high labor, parts, taxes and transportation costs. Based on the selling price of T1 $499, the so-called “Made in the United States” is simply impossible without significantly reducing the profit margin. Therefore, it is more realistic that after the whole machine is produced overseas, the machine will only carry out some simple customization or OEM processing in the United States, and then claim to be “Made in the United States”.

In addition, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has a clear definition of the “Made in USA” label: almost all products are made from the United States. If only partial assembly, packaging or testing is done in the United States, it does not theoretically meet the FTC standards. However, the standard has been implemented over the years and is often used more by brands for marketing purposes.

The real purpose of Trump’s mobile phone

In this way, the launch of Trump’s mobile phone and T1 phones is essentially not out of interest in communication technology or the mobile phone industry, but a very brand operational marketing business. As the current U.S. president, Trump has a huge fan base in the United States, and Trump Mobile is trying to transform these loyal voters into loyal consumers. Trump hopes to use his influence to promote and sell products to his company’s products.

Trump Mobile calls T1 “Made in the United States”

The launch of T1 phones conforms to Trump’s policy propositions such as “manufacturing return” and “reshaping manufacturing in the United States” over the years. Through the form of specific products, it strengthens its brand concept and political identity. On the one hand, Trump can increase his support rate through “integration of knowledge and action”, and on the other hand, he can also harvest supporters through the fan economy, which can be said to kill two birds with one stone.

What is the prospect of the new mobile phone market?

For ordinary consumers, the new T1 and paid package launched by Trump Mobile can be said to be almost unattractive. On the one hand, the T1 has a moderate performance, mediocre workmanship, and a much lower cost-effective than brands of the same price. On the other hand, according to the proportion of US mobile phone market brands in the first quarter of 2025 released by Canalys, Apple accounted for 60% of the market share, so the market left for Android is not large. In addition, the local deep cultivation of Android brands such as Samsung and Motorola and the price of T1 is not cheap, ordinary consumers have no reason to choose this phone.

In the end, Trump Mobile is more likely to become an exclusive product for Trump fans and a symbol of identity for “MAGAs”. The phone may rely on some loyal fans to maintain sales, but it will not be able to gain a foothold in the mainstream telecom and mobile phone markets.

It is not difficult to see that the technology consumer market relies more on real experience, transparent information and practical value. T1’s “American illusion” cannot withstand the scrutiny of the information society, especially in an era when every user can “Google”. This strategy of changing shells and increasing prices under the banner of sentiment is destined to be unable to gain a foothold for a long time.

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