The $1,999 Liberty Phone is made in America. Its creator explains how.
Purism's Liberty Phone, priced at $1,999, is the most advanced U.S.-made smartphone but lacks competitive specs compared to the iPhone. Limited by domestic supply chains and higher costs, it sources components globally. Despite scaling potential, Purism sells fewer than 100,000 units, as many parts still come from Asia. The phone's unique features cater to security-conscious users.
It is possible to build a smartphone in the U.S. right now. But it won’t be as sleek or as powerful as an iPhone, and it will cost a lot more.
Todd Weaver’s company, Purism, developed the Liberty Phone, the closest anyone has gotten. It has specs that would have been more impressive a decade ago, and it costs $1,999.
President Trump has threatened steep tariffs on foreign-made smartphones to pressure companies like Apple to shift manufacturing stateside. Meanwhile, the Trump Organization is promoting a “Made in the U.S.A." phone for $499 with specs that deem it unlikely to be built here anytime soon. Supply-chain analysts agree it’s impossible to match Asia’s production quality and scale for now. But Weaver’s Liberty Phone, not the Trump phone, offers a unique look at the realities of domestic manufacturing. And why nobody else is doing it.
The Liberty Phone’s motherboard is built in-house, the chip comes from Texas, and the assembly is done at Purism’s facility in Carlsbad, Calif. But not all of its parts are U.S. made: Other components come from China and other Asian countries.
“I’ve been working on this for 10 years and we’ve done everything we possibly can to build from U.S. manufacturing," Weaver says. “There are just some parts that don’t yet have a supply chain. We’re gonna keep incrementing there until we can get to that point."
Weaver says he can produce Liberty Phones at a rate of about 10,000 a month, but so far, he’s sold fewer than 100,000. By comparison, Apple shipped around 225 million phones in 2024, according to market analyst firm Canalys.
The Liberty Phone also doesn’t run on Android or iOS. Its processor, produced by Dutch semiconductor firm NXP in Austin, Texas, is designed for cars, not smartphones. It runs on Purism’s own PureOS, which is limited to calling, texting and web browsing, plus some basic apps like a calculator.
The screen and battery come from China and the rear-facing camera comes from South Korea. Weaver says a fully U.S.-made phone is limited by a lack of domestic infrastructure. There are no companies mass-producing smartphone screens in the U.S., for example.
Complications like this, even at Purism’s small scale, help explain why Apple and others haven’t made a serious attempt at producing premium smartphones in the U.S.
“Even if the specs were less impressive, it would take many, many years to be fully sourced out of the U.S. and not practical," says Jeff Fieldhack, a research director at Counterpoint Research. “Cost aside, we don’t have factories here building application processors, high-end displays or most of the other things in your smartphone."
Weaver says the Liberty Phone costs about $650 to make. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, a much more powerful device, was estimated to cost around $550 to make in China last fall, according to TechInsights.
Purism’s higher U.S. labor costs are partially offset by cheaper, lower-quality parts: a basic camera, low-resolution screen and half the RAM. Weaver says the Liberty Phone isn’t built to compete with an iPhone right now. He says the $1,999 retail price reflects a securely sourced phone with a vetted supply chain. About half of Purism’s customers are government agencies across the U.S., he says.
“On the consumer side, it’s security geeks, parents who want a phone for their kid, elderly people or people who want to avoid big tech," says Weaver. “Someone who needs a wicked-strong camera is not our audience."
Weaver estimates he could scale to building 100,000 phones a month within six months. But getting there would require investment to cover new machines, more line operators and added floor space. He has no traditional venture-capital funding, relying only on revenue and crowdfunding.
Tariffs likely won’t affect his costs at his current production rates because he ordered a large batch of parts when he started and still has them in supply at his facility. Weaver says that a long-term tariff on imported electronics could make the Liberty Phone’s manufacturing cost more competitive, since the cheap components would only see marginal increases, and more components are likely to be built in the U.S. soon.
While companies like Intel already manufacture chips in the U.S. and firms like TSMC and Micron are building domestic facilities, Fieldhack says those efforts are a small fraction of global production. Companies lack incentives to move more to American soil.
“A lot of it isn’t leading edge, the cost is still high, and it would still take a long time," he says.
Write to Ben Raab at ben.raab@wsj.com
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