Recently, the Trump Organization officially launched its own brand "T1 Mobile" mobile network and its first smartphone "T1", trying to promote it with the selling point of "Made in America". Moreover, since May, US President Trump has repeatedly called on Apple CEO Cook to keep iPhone production lines in the United States.

So what is the level of phones produced in the United States?

According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, the Liberty phone developed by the US tech company Purism is the product closest to achieving the goal of American manufacturing. However, its configuration might have been decent ten years ago, but it is now outdated, with a price of $1999 (about 14336 RMB). According to the official website pricing, an iPhone 16 with 128G costs $799.

Purism official website screenshot

According to the report, the Liberty phone focuses on privacy, is made, produced, and packaged in the United States, and its printed circuit board (PCB) is also produced domestically. The Liberty Phone does not support Android or iOS systems. It runs Purism's self-developed PureOS system, but the functions are limited, supporting only calls, text messages, web browsing, and some basic applications like calculators.

However, key components such as the casing, camera, modem, and WiFi/BT modules come from overseas suppliers, mainly China and India. The screen and battery are imported from China, while the camera is manufactured in South Korea.

Purism's CEO Weaver said that completely American-made phones are limited by insufficient domestic infrastructure. For example, there is no company in the US that can mass-produce smartphone screens.

"I have been working on this for ten years, and we have done our best to use American manufacturing," Weaver told The Wall Street Journal reporter, "Some parts do not yet have a supply chain. We will continue to invest until we reach that level."

Weaver said that he can produce about 10,000 Liberty phones per month, but so far, sales have not reached 100,000 units. In comparison, according to data from market analysis company Canalys, Apple's phone shipments in 2024 were approximately 220 million units.

Apple's share is 18% sourced from market analysis company Canalys

Jeff Fieldhack, research director at Counterpoint Research, said, "Leaving aside the cost, we don't have factories here that can produce application processors, high-end displays, or most other components in smartphones."

Weaver said that the production cost of the Liberty phone is about $650. According to a report released by research institution TD Cowen, the manufacturing cost (including components, packaging, and assembly) of an iPhone 16 Pro Max with 256GB is about $485.

The report released by research institution TD Cowen

The report pointed out that the labor cost of producing phones in the US by Purism is higher, but this disadvantage is partially offset by some cheaper and lower quality components, such as ordinary cameras, low-resolution screens, and memory with half the capacity.

Weaver said that the Liberty phone is not currently designed to compete with the iPhone. He claimed that the retail price of $1999 reflects the value of the phone's "secure sourcing and verifiable supply chain." He also added that about half of Purism's customers are US government agencies.

"For the consumer group, our users are mainly security geeks, parents who want to buy a phone for their children, the elderly, or those who want to avoid big tech companies. People who need super strong cameras are not our target customers," Weaver said.

Weaver estimates that he can expand the production capacity to 100,000 phones per month within six months. But to achieve this goal, he needs to invest in new machines, add more carrier lines, and increase the factory area. He doesn't have traditional venture capital, only relying on income and crowdfunding.

According to The Wall Street Journal, at the current production speed, tariffs may not affect Purism's costs, because he ordered a large batch of components when he started production, and there is still inventory in the factory. Weaver said that long-term tariffs on imported electronics may increase the manufacturing cost of the Liberty Phone, as the prices of cheap components will only rise slightly, and more components may be produced in the US soon.

Although companies like Intel have already produced chips in the US, and companies like TSMC and Micron are building factories in the US, Fieldhack said these efforts account for only a small part of global production. Companies lack the motivation to move more production to the US.

He said, "Many of these technologies are not cutting-edge, the costs are still high, and they still require a long time."

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Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7519753264309584394/

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