Where’s the Trump Phone? We’re going to keep talking about it every week. We’ve reached out, as common, to ask concerning the Trump Telephone’s whereabouts. As common, we’re nonetheless ready for a response. Within the meantime, it seems we’d have two Trump Telephones to fret about.
The Trump Telephone could also be not more than a whisper within the wind, however Trump Cell is already planning a second. One of many firm’s high executives revealed in an interview {that a} “T1 Extremely” can be within the works, although we all know even much less about it than we do concerning the first cellphone.
The sudden feedback had been made by Don Hendrickson, one of many three executives Trump Cell introduced out on stage on the service’s launch, described then as its head of cellular operations. Final November, he spoke to trade publication Wireless Dealer Magazine in an interview that has to this point gone largely unnoticed, however ends with a tantalizing tease of the corporate’s future {hardware}.
“Our subsequent main step is the launch of the T1 Extremely.”
“We’re centered on evolving with our prospects by providing much more highly effective instruments that match their lives,” Hendrickson mentioned. “Our subsequent main step is the launch of the T1 Extremely — a premium gadget that builds on the success of the unique T1 with enhanced efficiency, upgraded options, and the identical daring, American-proud design.”
“The T1 Extremely will provide a top-tier consumer expertise whereas staying true to our mission of mixing worth, performance, and patriotic branding. As we increase, count on to see extra built-in providers, unique perks, and new product tiers — at all times centered across the identical promise: delivering extra than simply wi-fi and doing it the Trump℠ Cell method,” he added.
There’s lots to unpack right here. First is the declare to be constructing on “the success of the unique T1,” a cellphone that’s now 5 months late and counting, sparking Democratic lawmakers to put in writing to the FTC asking it to investigate. Can an unlaunched cellphone actually be a hit? I suppose it relies upon what number of $100 deposits the corporate has taken, although as I reported final week, we still don’t know what that figure looks like.
Unsurprisingly for a cellphone to be branded “Extremely,” the brand new handset will apparently have “enhanced efficiency” and “upgraded options,” although Hendrickson is imprecise on the small print. The unique T1 guarantees finances specs at a midrange worth — although we nonetheless don’t know some core parts like what chipset it makes use of — so there’s loads of room for an Extremely to enhance on it.
The identify, after all, echoes Samsung’s Galaxy S Ultra line, although comparable branding has been adopted by the likes of Xiaomi, Vivo, Asus (RIP), Oppo, and Honor. For essentially the most half, these telephones function the most recent Qualcomm Snapdragon flagship chips, triple or quadruple rear cameras with superior telephoto lenses, and value north of $1,000. Something comparable can be an enormous soar from the $499 T1 Telephone, although the promise of “new product tiers” suggests an ambition to hit different worth factors sooner or later too.
Then there’s the manufacturing. Having realized from Trump Cell’s preliminary made-in-America walk back, Hendrickson solely says the T1 Extremely can have “American-proud design,” the identical wording at present used to explain the T1. We’ve but to search out out what precisely which means, or exactly how gold we must always count on the T1 Extremely to be. Can American-proud design compete with the Chinese language retail big JD.com, apparently about to start out promoting pure gold iPhone cases for as much as $16,000?
Nonetheless, there’s purpose to doubt within the T1 Extremely, past the apparent. Hendrickson claims that “prospects are drawn to… the unique T1 Extremely cellphone,” and “keen to purchase into” it, an impossibility for a cellphone that hadn’t even been talked about publicly earlier than this interview was revealed. Had been the T1 and the T1 Extremely getting muddled collectively, or was this a prewritten interview supposed to go reside after a full Extremely announcement that by no means passed off?
“Delivering extra than simply wi-fi, and doing it the Trump℠ Cell method.”
The Extremely isn’t the one attention-grabbing tidbit in Hendrickson’s interview. He additionally claims to have been the originator of the Trump Cell concept, claiming he “approached [the Trumps] with the idea,” as a result of “they know easy methods to construct actions, not simply companies.” So now we all know who to thank for all this.
And should you’re questioning concerning the curious “Trump℠,” which you may need seen pop up earlier than in locations just like the Trump Mobile website small print, it’s the image for a service mark — a variant on the trademark used for providers, quite than bodily merchandise, and which signifies that the Trump trademark for the mobile industry has been utilized for, however not but permitted. It’s yet one more component of Trump Cell that’s nonetheless extra fiction than truth.
As ever, Trump Cell didn’t reply to my request for remark.
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