| > So far HTC has been mostly silent on the existence of the T1. That might mean that they either sold the rights to the design of the U24 Pro to Trump Mobile, or (in my opinion the more likely scenario) they never owned the rights to the design in the first place. Typical ODM-supply contracts define some exclusivity for the lifecycle of the product, depending on the agreement it may be (combinations of) 1.) Full exclusivity (ODM provides exclusivity for the design, spec AND the PCB) 2.) Spec. exclusivity (ODM provides exclusivity for the specification-combo of SoC, display, battery, camera), 3.) Design exclusivity (ODM provides a custom exterior design of the device Usually such exclusivity agreements are made for a span of 2-3 years from agreed launch-date (with parts having the printed customer-name, i.e. "HTC" covered separately). The HTC U24 Pro was apparently publicly launched on June 12th 2026, which will be exactly 2 years TOMORROW (!) --> HTC likely had a 2-year spec/design exclusivity which either expires on June 12th 2026 --> (or was already agreed to be waived based on HTC possibly not reaching the total production-volume agreed with the ODM) |
--> Or (mind you, no fact-basis for this whatsoever): HTC themselves could have facilitated a deal between that "Trump company" and the ODM in order to get out of their ODM-contract for the U24. HTC could have waived possible exclusivity-agreements in order to settle outstanding agreed supply-volume (in the scheme of "we bring someone else to take the volume" and won't hinder any deal).
In my experience dealing with this kind of smartphone ODM-deals, it's not unusual to negotiate a "transfer" of the outstanding committed volume to a new project (the ODM wants to continue business with the customer, the customer won't do that if he has to pay a penalty). So it's not that far-fetched to negotiate a partial transfer to someone else entirely...
Also, HTC having a corporate office in Washington, while that "Trump phone" company never built a phone before, I wouldn't be surprised if my baseless assumption turns out to have some merit...