Elon Musk Will ‘Eventually’ Make a Phone, Says Gene Munster: Starlink Device Will Be a ‘Bigger Problem’ for Apple, Samsung

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Space Exploration Technologies Corp. agreed to buy nationwide low-band spectrum, and investor Gene Munster believes a smartphone will eventually follow, even though CEO Elon Musk has said he does not want to make one.

"Elon says he doesn't want to make a phone. I still think $SPCX eventually will," Munster said in a post on X Thursday.

"A vertically integrated handset on a Starlink mobile network could deliver features carriers can't match, and cheaper service," the Deepwater Asset Management Managing Partner added.

Munster said that would hit Samsung Electronics harder than Apple Inc. , whose "device and services tie-in is harder to break."

Elon says he doesn't want to make a phone. I still think $SPCX eventually will. A vertically integrated handset on a Starlink mobile network could deliver features carriers can't match, and cheaper service. That's a bigger problem for Samsung than Apple. $AAPL 's device and… — Gene Munster (@munster_gene) October 9, 2026

Elon says he doesn't want to make a phone. I still think $SPCX eventually will. A vertically integrated handset on a Starlink mobile network could deliver features carriers can't match, and cheaper service. That's a bigger problem for Samsung than Apple. $AAPL 's device and…

Gene Munster (@munster_gene) October 9, 2026

Apple held 30.8% of the global mobile market in September, compared with 23.52% for Samsung, according to Statcounter.

On Thursday, SpaceX agreed to acquire Grain Management's nationwide 800 MHz spectrum portfolio, which it said will "pave the way for Starlink to become a major mobile carrier" in the U.S.

SpaceX said the low-band spectrum will help Starlink Mobile signals penetrate walls and other obstacles, providing "reliable service indoors, outdoors, in cellular dead zones, and everywhere between."

At a Pennsylvania town hall in 2024, Musk said, "The idea of making a phone makes me want to die. But if we have to make a phone, we will. But we will aspire not to make a phone."

Earlier this year, Musk said a phone was not out of the question at some point, but that it would be "a very different device than current phones," built purely to run AI neural networks at maximum performance per watt.

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