Product categories included computer monitors, laptops, robotic vacuums, smart speakers, smartphones, smartwatches, televisions, video game consoles, wireless earbuds, and wireless headphones. Smartphones are in a “league of their own,” the CT A said, emerging as the most expensive product to make in the US and the product that Americans consider least dispensable. Taking into account tariffs in place today, the cost of fully manufacturing a smartphone in the US would go up by 152 percent, CT A estimated, and some of those costs would inevitably have to be covered by consumers to maintain profit margins and keep investors happy.
The largest cost increases would be in products with processors, memory, and advanced displays, the CT A said. Building laptops would cost 93 percent more, and smartwatches 97 percent more. On the lower end of the spectrum, TVs would cost 41 percent more to build entirely in the US.
CT A’s research indicated that companies could pass on between 25 and 50 percent of the cost increase. On average, CT A estimated that “the 10 products in our report would see a weighted average price increase of 27 to 55 percent.” Households already facing budget strains—including rising costs of rent, groceries, and fuel—are already delaying technology purchases until prices come down in the US, the CT A reported.
As returns diminish, that could spook investors, the CT A suggested, making it even harder to reshore supply chains, despite Trump insisting that reshoring will ultimately attract more investment in the US.
Source: Ars Technica · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing