How Much Would You Pay For an American-Made Laptop? Palmer Luckey Wants To Know

Palmer Luckey, known for founding Oculus and defense-tech firm Anduril, is now eyeing U.S.-manufactured laptops as his next venture. While past American laptops have largely relied on foreign components, Luckey is exploring the possibility of building a fully 'Made in USA' device that meets strict FTC standards -- though doing so may cost a premium. Tom's Hardware reports: ['Would you buy a Made In America computer from Anduril for 20% more than Chinese-manufactured options from Apple?' asked Luckey in a post on X.] Luckey previously asked the same question at the Reindustrialize Summit, a conference whose website said it was devoted to 'convening the brightest and most motivated minds at the intersection of technology and manufacturing,' which shared a clip of Luckey discussing the subject, wherein he talks about the extensive research he has already done around building a PC in the U.S. Luckey wouldn't be the first to make a laptop in the U.S. (PCMag collected a list of domestic PCs, including laptops, in 2021.) But those products use components sourced from elsewhere; they're assembled in the U.S. rather than manufactured there.

That distinction matters, according to the Made in USA Standard published by the Federal Trade Commission. To quote: 'For a product to be called Made in USA, or claimed to be of domestic origin without qualifications or limits on the claim, the product must be 'all or virtually all' made in the U.S. [which] means that the final assembly or processing of the product occurs in the United States, all significant processing that goes into the product occurs in the United States, and all or virtually all ingredients or components of the product are made and sourced in the United States. That is, the product should contain no -- or negligible -- foreign content.' How much more would you be willing to pay for a laptop that was truly made in America?

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