Trumps $499 gold-plated T1 phone finally ships but is already met with immediate criticism
After months of delays and growing scepticism from the 590,000 people who handed over $100 deposits, the Trump Mobile T1 phone has finally begun shipping.
A whopping $59 million was paid upfront for the flagship smartphones.
For many who had been waiting since the device was first announced to mark the tenth anniversary of Donald Trump's 2016 campaign launch, the news came as a relief.
Originally scheduled to ship in August of last year, the launch was pushed back repeatedly before the company quietly removed any mention of a release date from its website altogether.
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Shortly before announcing the start of shipments, it also updated its terms of use to state that the $100 deposit does not 'guarantee 'the device will ever be manufactured or delivered. The company defined the sale as a 'conditional opportunity' to purchase the phone if and when the company chooses to sell it.
The news was confirmed by Trump Mobile, the cellular company operated by Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr. under a Trump Organisation brand licensing agreement.
CEO Pat O'Brien said the lengthy delays were due to complex quality-control testing and the challenges of bringing an entirely new device to market. However, deliveries are expected to be fulfilled within the coming weeks.
The phone was pitched from the outset as a patriotic alternative to Apple and Samsung, a gold-plated, 'Made in the USA' smartphone retailing at $499.
However, they didn't seem to stick with their American manufacturing promise as the reality of global production took over. Instead, the manufacturing claim on the company's website was replaced with the vaguer phrase 'designed with American values in mind.'
In fact, hardware analysts found the T1's specifications to be almost identical to the REVVL 7 Pro 5G, a standard Android smartphone manufactured by T-Mobile in China.
It's not the first time a product like this has targeted the same consumer base. In 2021, the so-called Freedom Phone made similar promises of patriotism and freedom from Big Tech censorship, only for technical reviewers to reveal it was a generic Chinese-made Umidigi device being sold on AliExpress for less than a quarter of what American buyers were charged.
Trump Mobile has rejected accusations of misleading consumers and pointed to what it describes as record demand as evidence of the product's success.
It's likely more questions will arrive once customers start receiving their orders.