Latest news with #Wingtech
Russia Today
2 days ago
- Business
- Russia Today
Trump Mobile drops ‘Made in USA' label amid China copycat concerns
Trump Mobile has removed the 'Made in the USA' label for an upcoming smartphone from its website, sparking renewed speculation over whether the $499 T1 device is a rebranded Chinese model. Launched by the Trump Organization on June 16, the company now says the T1 phone is 'designed with American values in mind.' The change was first flagged by The Verge on Wednesday and confirmed through archived captures. The T1 8002 is currently described as 'brought to life right here in the USA,' replacing earlier claims of domestic manufacturing. The phone's specifications were also changed, including a screen size drop, and the September 2025 shipping date has also been removed. The changes appear to have been made after industry analysts questioned whether the US has the capacity to produce the device. Todd Weaver, the CEO of US-based smartphone manufacturer Purism, told CNN last week that building a secure, scalable phone production line in the US would take years, and that even his company, which sells a $1,999 'Made in the USA' phone, sources some components from abroad. 'Unless the Trump family secretly built out a secure, onshore or nearshore operation… it's simply not possible. There are areas where you're going to still need a global supply chain,' he said, citing a crystal in Purism's GPS chip that is made in China. Max Weinbach of Creative Strategies noted similarities between the T1 and the Revvl 7 Pro 5G, a $169 phone made by China's Wingtech. 'There are only four or five smartphone ODMs that could manufacture this – and they're all in China,' he said, referring to 'original device manufacturers' – companies that design and make products based on the specifications of another company. 'It is likely that this device will be initially produced by a Chinese ODM,' Blake Przesmicki, an analyst at Counterpoint Research, told CNBC. Eric Trump – who now co-leads the Trump Organization – effectively acknowledged that the phones are not currently made in the US. In an interview last week, he said, 'eventually all the [Trump] phones will be built in the USA,' while avoiding any direct claim of domestic production. Eric Trump: 'Eventually all the Trump phones will be built in the USA.'Translation: They're not built in America. And there's no real plan to change that anytime Company spokesman Chris Walker, however, told USA Today on Wednesday that 'the T1 phones are proudly being made in America,' and dismissed speculation to the contrary as 'simply inaccurate.' The news comes amid President Donald Trump's push to boost domestic manufacturing. Trump imposed sweeping tariffs on trading partners earlier this year, citing unfair trade imbalances and saying the move would provide an 'incentive for re-shoring production to the US.' China was hit hardest, and the two sides engaged in a tit-for-tat tariff war that paused after a preliminary deal earlier this month until a final trade agreement, which is expected by August 10.
Engadget
19-06-2025
- Business
- Engadget
The golden Trump Phone is almost certainly not made in the US
Not content with a real estate empire and the presidency of the United States, the Trump family is wading into the phone wars like it's 2011 with a shiny gold monstrosity called the T1, the marketing of which leans extensively on the narrowest idea of patriotism. Beyond the immediate question — why do this, like, at all? — the T1 invites a question that's perhaps easier to interrogate: How can any modern smartphone claim to be made in the US? Over the last 40 years America has led a massive globalization effort that allows companies to pick and choose where they develop and build hardware that finds its way back to the US. The best chips to run your phone are built in Taiwan — regardless of the phone maker. The best phones are built in China, India or Vietnam. The displays are often produced in Korea. The glass is actually made in America. The sand that will eventually become the silicon wafers chips are made of is sourced here too. But most phones, and virtually all smartphones found in America, are globally produced devices. An all-American golden Trump phone is about as fantastical as the big, beautiful bill's promise to make all Americans rich. The phone has reasonable specs for the $499 price tag. There's a 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a punch hole for the 16MP front camera, 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage. Its rear array of cameras includes a 50MP main camera, a 2MP depth sensor and a 2MP macro lens. Notably lacking in the spec list is the processor. Perhaps that's a typo, or perhaps that's because nearly all smartphone processors are made overseas. Multiple analysts have suggested the Trump T1 is actually a reskinned Revvl 7. That's a $200 Android phone currently offered by T-Mobile in the US and manufactured by Wingtech, a (partially) state-owned Chinese phone maker and semiconductor manufacturer. However the specs and outer appearance better align with the €180 (also about $200) Coolpad X100, which is mentioned as a 'related phone' to the T1 on the smartphone database GSMArena . Similarly, that phone has a 6.8-inch AMOLED display, 256GB of internal storage and up to 12GB of RAM, but its cameras are significantly higher resolution and it has a flash built into its camera module. It, like the Revvl 7, is manufactured in China by a Chinese company. Don Jr and Eric Trump haven't said if the T1 is a reskin of the Revvl 7 — or any other existing phone for that matter — instead insisting their device will eventually be made in the US. (Note that word 'eventually.' It is doing a lot of work.) The Trump brothers have chosen their words like lawyers are watching, likely because the Made in America claim they're making isn't just marketing, it's enforceable by the Federal Trade Commission. You can't just slap it on a crummy Chinese phone and call it a day. 'The FTC actually has very strict regulations on how you label products and country of origin,' Todd Weaver, CEO and Founder of Purism, told me. Purism is an American company that produces its own operating system to compete with iOS and Android and is the only company in the US which can actually use any part of the 'Made in America' claim for its phones. In our call he sounded a little irritated about the T1's claims, but was eager to explain how the labeling works. The Purism Liberty Phone. (Purism) 'I don't make that claim and I manufacture all the electronics in the US,' Weaver said. Purism had to go with a non-phone processor for the Liberty phone because no company based in America makes phone processors (yet). Even with a non-standard chip, Purism's processor comes from its supplier's fabrication in South Korea. He found it financially challenging to source a chassis in the US as well. An unqualified Made in America claim would mean that a phone was not just assembled here, but every single part of the device was manufactured here as well. That's an essentially impossible task for phone makers. It's why Purism's phone has the label Made in America Electronics instead. Weaver could get a lot, but not all of the parts manufactured in the US. While it's certainly theoretically possible the Trump brothers could take all the wealth they've been amassing since their father reentered the Oval Office to brute force a more American phone, it isn't happening any time soon. The Trump T1, which they claim will be sold in September, cannot carry that label, at least not legally. (Whether the current FTC would prosecute the president's sons for misrepresenting the T1 is another story entirely.) We've reached out to the FTC for comment and as of publishing have not heard back. So what about other pro-American manufacturing labels? The Trump Brothers have hinted that the phones will be assembled here — even if the Revvl 7 (or Coolpad X100) is currently not. Those labels are also governed by the FTC and they're not easy to get around. A simple "screwdriver" operation (importing almost entirely foreign parts and fitting them together in the States) is even provided by the FTC as a straightforward example of consumer deception. That's a lesson we all learned when Apple promised to start building computers domestically again. In 2019 it announced a big factory in Texas under pressure from the Trump administration to bring more manufacturing jobs to America. But even though people are putting screws into Mac Pros stateside, those can't carry the label 'Assembled in America.' Instead they're 'Designed in America' and a 'Product of Thailand' with 'Final Assembly in America.' It's a global device. Electronics are global devices and no amount of gold gilding or misleading claims from the sons of American presidents can change that. The best estimates from manufacturing experts claim it will be half a decade, minimum, before Apple or Samsung could be building phones in the US. Weaver has already mused about reporting the Trump brothers for claiming their gold-gilded T1 is Made in America, and noted that anyone (even you, dear reader) could do the same. If you buy something through a link in this article, we may earn commission.
South China Morning Post
21-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Wingtech sells 4.6 billion yuan of assembly assets to Luxshare after US sanctions losses
Wingtech Technology, a Chinese supplier to Apple and other electronics makers, has agreed to spin off a major piece of its operations after US sanctions threaten to bring heavy losses. Advertisement The company signed an agreement to sell its stake in five subsidiaries to Luxshare Precision Industry, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Thursday. Assets in three other Wingtech units will also be divested. The sale of Wingtech's product assembly business, which involves assets worth about 4.6 billion yuan (US$635 million), would mean a full exit from this market. The shift would let the company focus only on semiconductor operations, a move it took after an 'in-depth assessment of the geopolitical environment and business development,' Wingtech said. The technology firm, based in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, was added to the US Commerce Department's so-called entity list by then-President Joe Biden's administration in December. The companies on the list are seen as a threat to US national security or foreign policy interests and face restrictions. Zhang Xuezheng, the chairman and chief executive of Wingtech. Photo: Handout This has 'impacted the company's assembly business in terms of procurement, R&D and sales, leading to unfavourable situations such as difficulties in securing new project orders and the loss of existing project orders,' Wingtech said in its statement.
South China Morning Post
21-03-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Wingtech sells 4.6 bln yuan of assembly assets to Luxshare after losses from US sanctions
Wingtech Technology, a Chinese supplier to Apple and other electronics makers, has agreed to spin off a major piece of its operations after US sanctions threaten to bring heavy losses. Advertisement The company signed an agreement to sell its stake in five subsidiaries to Luxshare Precision Industry, according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Thursday. Assets in three other Wingtech units will also be divested. The sale of Wingtech's product assembly business, which involves assets worth about 4.6 billion yuan (US$635 million), would mean a full exit from this market. The shift would let the company focus only on semiconductor operations, a move it took after an 'in-depth assessment of the geopolitical environment and business development,' Wingtech said. The technology firm, based in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, was added to the US Commerce Department's so-called entity list by then-President Joe Biden's administration in December. The companies on the list are seen as a threat to US national security or foreign policy interests and face restrictions. An undated photograph of Zhang Xuezheng, the chairman and chief executive of Wingtech. Photo: Handout This has 'impacted the company's assembly business in terms of procurement, R&D and sales, leading to unfavourable situations such as difficulties in securing new project orders and the loss of existing project orders,' Wingtech said in its statement.
Yahoo
21-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
US-Sanctioned Wingtech to Divest Assets in Face of Heavy Losses
(Bloomberg) -- Wingtech Technology Co., a Chinese supplier to Apple Inc. and other electronics makers, has agreed to spin off a major piece of its operations after US sanctions threaten to bring heavy losses. New York Subway Ditches MetroCard After 32 Years for Tap-And-Go Amtrak CEO Departs Amid Threats of a Transit Funding Pullback Despite Cost-Cutting Moves, Trump Plans to Remake DC in His Style LA Faces $1 Billion Budget Hole, Warns of Thousands of Layoffs NYC Plans for Flood Protection Without Federal Funds The company signed an agreement to sell its stake in five subsidiaries to Luxshare Precision Industry Co., according to a filing with the Shanghai Stock Exchange on Thursday. Assets in three other Wingtech units will also be divested. The sale of Wingtech's product assembly business, which involves assets worth about 4.6 billion yuan ($635 million), would mean a full exit from this market. The shift would let the company focus only on semiconductor operations, a move it took after an 'in-depth assessment of the geopolitical environment and business development,' Wingtech said. The technology firm, based in Jiaxing, Zhejiang, was added to the Commerce Department's so-called entity list by then-President Joe Biden's administration in December. The companies on the list are seen as a threat to US national security or foreign policy interests and face restrictions. This has 'impacted the company's assembly business in terms of procurement, R&D and sales, leading to unfavorable situations such as difficulties in securing new project orders and the loss of existing project orders,' Wingtech said in its statement. A 'significant revenue decline' in the assembly business would occur if the division were kept, the company said. Wingtech had estimated in January a full-year net loss of as much as 4 billion yuan. Wingtech was added to Apple's supplier list in 2022. Though the iPhone maker's latest directory of vendors still lists Wingtech as a provider, things may have already changed. A major client code-named 'Customer A' hasn't placed any order with Wingtech since it was blacklisted by the US, the firm said in another statement to the exchange. This buyer canceled the 2025 purchase plan for 2.27 million devices, worth 14.5 billion yuan, Wingtech said. According to local media outlet Cailian, 'Customer A' was used by Wingtech to refer to Apple. The company received zero orders from other clients since December. In addition, existing orders for 25.4 million devices were scrapped by buyers. Apple didn't immediately respond to a request for comment. Final terms haven't been set for the proposed deal, which is subject to approval from regulators and shareholders, according to Wingtech. --With assistance from Mark Gurman, Foster Wong and Olivia Tam. A New 'China Shock' Is Destroying Jobs Around the World Tesla's Gamble on MAGA Customers Won't Work How TD Became America's Most Convenient Bank for Money Launderers The Real Reason Trump Is Pushing 'Buy American' The Future of Higher Ed Is in Austin ©2025 Bloomberg L.P. Sign in to access your portfolio
