The “Made in America” smartphone maker has a Apple message about manufacturing in the Trump TRFF era
Wood Wifer has an important message to apple Since it faces increasing demands by President Donald Trump to restore the shore of some smartphone production: don’t listen to traditional wisdom.
Experts have long said that the manufacture of iPhone devices in the United States, instead of Asia, as Apple, will be impossible in logistical and Logistics and Expensive is ridiculous. But Wifer argues that companies can actually do this successfully, and for a similar cost or slightly higher – if they are given several years to move in inevitable complications.
Wafer should know: starting it, extended, among the few works, if not the only works, which collect smartphones in the United States in fact, the US proportions are the main sale point for its company made in America, the freedom phone.
“It is difficult to do this in the United States,” Wever admits. “Maybe this is why I am the only one.” However, he says that his company has succeeded in establishing it and was profitable over the past two years-an example in the real world of what is possible in a hot topic in which the political dialogue points and interests gained on the discussion.
President Donald Trump recently put smartphones in the spotlight as part of his global trade war. On May 23, use allwork social to Public attacking Apple To import iPhone devices to the United States, instead of making them locally, then threatened the company with a 25 % tariff if it continues to do so.
Whether any of the import taxes will become permanent, not clear given the decision -making that Trump wears and the challenges of the court by third parties.
However, Apple has long collected its iPhone devices abroad, especially in China, and resisted the transfer of any of this production to the United States in April, when Trump announced its definitions, Apple went to the point of changing the sources of the restricted iPhones in the United States To IndiaThat faced less import taxes. The American Association was not publicly mentioned as a possibility. In the past, Cook CEO Apple Explanation of the frequency By saying it will be difficult to reproduce the abundance of skilled workers and first -class suppliers abroad.
Of course, Wifer is not Apple, which has sold more than two billion in the world since the introduction of the first models in 2007. The devices launched a new era in the technology industry in which mobile devices became a major axis.
On the contrary, the ingenuity has only sold tens of thousands of phones since its first model appeared in 2018, according to Weaver. The company is barely known outside the world of technology.
The Liberty, which is manufactured near San Diego, comes with US -made electronics installed on a metal structure from China. He – she Retail For 1999 dollars. Another phone, library 5, It is mostly the same designExcept that it is made in China with Chinese parts, it costs $ 799.
The company also produces tablets, laptops and servers.
Purism raises its device in America as safer and friendly to privacy than those in major manufactures such as Apple. Since all parts and critical assembly are local, it is easy to check not to be tampered with by a foreign opponent who wants to intrude or The most important of them in explosives.
Phones are also operated on Linux open source operating system. Anyone with technical knowledge that is concerned about security can review the code-unlike the most popular phones, which come with operating systems that cannot be easily examined.
In addition, Purism phones come with three killing keys that allow users to separate their devices physically from the cell, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth service, along with the microphone and camera. When running, the keys cut the electrical circuit into the features that control it and make it impossible to be accessed by the infiltrators. He said that the switch on plane mode, as users often do on more prevailing phones, is less secure, because it is a purely software feature that does not cut the energy to the device chips.
Customers who realize security in particular can pay for charging their devices with a “clear tape” on the package, Other optionsTo inform any monkey work during the crossing.
Purism’s largest customers are government agencies, many of which require great security and individual consumers. Wifer said that the company’s customers include the FBI and the Mukhtar Committee on the Intelligence.
Wifer said that the cost of manufacturing my extended phone is largely the same, although one of them is made abroad and the other locally. The phone made in China costs about $ 600 for parts, manufacturing and assembly, while the person in the United States is $ 650.
“The production of goods in China against the United States is the same as plus or minus 10 %,” said Wifer on the basis of automation.
The difference between what Forest receives customers is partially due to the higher profit margin that the company brings to its device in the United States. Wafer said that people who want stronger security are often ready to pay more for that. It also covers the additional general expenses of some customers who want to check that the supply chain of Purism is safe and that the small additional cost of the United States manufacturing.
Decrease skills
The assembly line is located in Purism in Carlsbad, California, where it is placed up to dozens of workers. The region is home to a group of skilled workers thanks to the local defense industry and manufacturing for other mobile phone tankers.
This relatively modest assembly line is a major contradiction with factories that make iPhone devices, which are managed by contract manufacturers, most of them in China. It can be those facilities The size of many football fields And employ more than 100,000 people working around the clock.
Waver said that the United States is in a large -ended position for China when it comes to skilled workers, who are a large part of the workforce in smart phone factories. He said that the only way to reflect the deficiency and the basis for companies to re -produce their production is to encourage more people to learn useful skills in the manufacturing process.
“If you go to China, you can find buildings and buildings that contain thousands of electronics engineers. If you look here, you can find five total,” Wifer said.
He said that Apple, for example, risks a disaster if it suddenly, in 2026, needs to increase employees in the United States to produce millions of iPhone devices. It will take enough to train people for such a huge pledge.
Wifer said that the ingenuity, which was established in 2014, took several years to develop the local supply chain. The small size of the company means that it only needs limited amounts of components, which makes it impossible to achieve the size of the size that comes from the production of large numbers of devices. Manufacturing in the United States also comes with high labor costs compared to China. But with the help of automation, these additional costs can be kept to a minimum by maintaining human workers for the tasks that were made after the completion of production, such as welding, assembly, reforms and testing.
On the other hand, Apple will need huge amounts of ingredients to maintain the tinnitus of the assembly group. Although the company is likely to be able to cut deals with local suppliers for most iPhone spare parts, some, such as high -quality cameras, may be impossible to get them quickly in the United States, and thus will have to import them.
An analyst said that iPhone may end $ 3500 if it is made in the United States, to calculate additional costs and trouble. Weaver agrees that Apple will cost much more to produce iPhone devices in the United States, if it has to transfer production quickly. But given enough time, Apple can significantly reduce the cost after developing a new supply chain, finding enough workers, and relying on extensive automation.
It grows beyond position
Waver said that opening a local manufacturing factory should be a long process. For this reason, he criticized the Trump tariff for riding almost immediately. Yes, many of these definitions have been late since then. But the ready -made meals for companies are that they cannot plan for the future. However, this exactly what is required for something complex such as manufacturing to the United States
Trump’s tariff will be more effective if it was in stages for many years. In this scenario, companies will have a clear and increased incentive to reproduce – without being punished directly from the bats.
Wafer argues that his efforts in manufacturing in the United States are already paying off and that it will get momentum over time. Hop A recent scandal The involvement of American officials who use the signal of chatting to discuss a military strike against Yemen, then inviting the journalist by mistake to join them, will help to raise sales by encouraging the federal government to focus more on security.
Weaver will not enter the details of the financial statements in Purism, unlike saying that it has millions of annual revenues and turned into a profit in 2023. The Liberty phone is his largest seller.
Wayne Lam, an analyst at the market research company Techinsights, gave mixture of Purism. In an email, he said: “They can be a successful specialized player, but the chances of success are less thanks to the biggest brands. They will not be able to compete in the consumer market but the government/institutions/military institutions are all specialized markets that can be addressed.”
To finance the expansion of his business, Wayr is trying to collect additional investments after obtaining $ 16 million in financing over the years. Some of these money will go to repair a defect with his phones. Since they do not use the Apple or Google Android operating systems, they are not compatible with many of the most popular mobile applications such as Uber. To get such applications on its devices, the antiseptic must make the technical disk for each chain.
At least, the Hori can claim one small advantage over giant companies that dominate the smartphone industry. If Trump is Definitions become permanentThe influence of his manufacturer in the United States will not feel, while adult players and foreign devices can be postponed.
This story was originally shown on Fortune.com
