Customers in the United States should be concerned about the cost of smartphones even if they come from one of the major carriers in the country. In fact, especially if they come from AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon since at least two of them announced they will not absorb the tariff costs on phones.
A few days ago, Verizon Chairman and CEO Hans Vestberg confirmed during the carrier’s Q1 2025 earnings call that even though it’s hard to predict what will happen, Verizon will not absorb higher phone costs.
If the tariff is going to be as high as they say on the handset, we're not planning to cover that in our work. That's just not going to be possible. We will not cover any enormous increase on tariffs on handsets. That’s ultimately going to hit the consumer in the market.
– Hans Vestberg, Verizon Chairman and CEO, April 2025
Vestberg went on to say that there’s no indication that customers are concerned about the cost of tariffs to the point that they are willing to purchase phones in advance just to avoid it.
Verizon’s CEO also revealed that it’s working with all suppliers to try and minimize the impact of the tariffs on handsets, although at this time nothing is certain.
AT&T is one of the major US carriers that announced it will not cover the cost of tariffs | Image credit: PhoneArena
Earlier today, AT&T confirmed as well that in case tariffs will be applied to phones sold in the US, it will pass the cost to customers. The carrier’s CEO John Stankey said during the carrier’s earnings call that AT&T will have to find new ways make the price increase digestible for customers.
I think that if ultimately costs are passed to us from those that we buy handsets from, unfortunately for the customer, we’re going to have to come up with some new ways for them to figure out how to digest that increase in pricing.
– John Stankey, AT&T CEO, April 2025
Furthermore, Stankey somewhat defended President Trump’s decision to impose tariffs on just about every country in the world by saying that “all companies in the US are now operating with less visibility as the administration pursues policies that are intended to facilitate its laudable goal of creating more equitable global trade and improve domestic manufacturing capabilities.”
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Cosmin, a tech journalist with a career spanning over a decade, brings a wealth of experience to PhoneArena. His expertise lies in brands like Samsung and Nokia, and he has a keen interest in innovative technologies. After a brief stint in PR, Cosmin returned to tech journalism in 2016, committed to delivering clear and objective news. When he's not writing or appearing as a guest on TV and radio shows, Cosmin enjoys playing RPGs, watching Netflix, and nurturing his passion for history and travel.
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