Dutch company Fairphone is introducing its ethically sourced phone while
industry leaders, including Samsung and Apple, continue to face criticism over
factory conditions and mineral sourcing
Dutch company Fairphone is introducing its ethically sourced phone while
industry leaders, including Samsung and Apple, continue to face criticism over
factory conditions and mineral sourcing.
Over 15,000 Fairphone handsets, retailing at 325 euros, have been pre-ordered
from the firm's first 25,000 unit production run. The prototype on show at the
company's Soho pop-up shop will be the first customer glimpse before deliveries
begin in December.
Though Fairphone CEO and Founder Bas van Abel
stressed the phone isn't 100 percent ethical, the project took some crucial
first steps.
Fairphone partnered with NGOs, like the Conflict Free Tin Initiative and
Solutions for Hope, which provide a traceable supply chain for minerals
essential to smartphone production—tin, tungsten and tantalum—that traditionally
come from army controlled mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
A living wage review is also underway to ensure workers in China's A'Hong
factory receive fair pay while assembling Fairphone's first 25,000 phones this
November.
"What's important here is they didn't compromise on experience," said
Jeronimo Francisco, IDC Research Director of European Mobile
Devices.
Fairphone specs include a custom Android OS, quad core
processor, 4.3 inch reinforced screen, and dual SIM capacity—allowing both work
and personal phones to rest on one device.
The phone won't be sealed either and will come with instructions for
self-repairs.
Some companies have tried to go greener with their handsets, but Fairphone is
the first initiative that tries to look at both the fair trade and green
prospects throughout the entire supply chain, Francisco said.
Giants like Sony highlighted the reduced carbon footprint in their C901
GreenHeart and Naite models in 2009, and Apple recently touted recycled material
in its iPhone 5C.
It's unclear how disruptive the Fairphone will be to a handset market that
Francisco said is expected to ship 1 billion units by the end of the business
year.
But Michael Morgan, a senior mobile devices analyst for ABI Research said
operators and retailers need to be the driving force of the Fairphone
initiative. "If the retailers of phones don't demand that phones become green or
ethical...then there is little economic incentive to make them green or
ethical."
Van Abel confirmed that a number of telecommunication giants have already
approached Fairphone, including Telefonica and T-Mobile.
"We don't have any
partnerships, but they're interested in what we're doing," said Van Abel.
KPN plans to buy 1000 of the first handsets and Vodafone has held informal
meetings with Fairphone, helping the team develop a longer-lasting phone and
experimenting with quality design.
The handset is unlocked and usable with any mobile provider but will only be
delivered within Europe this year. Van Abel hinted at North American and
Australian shipments for the second batch if all goes well.
Fairphone crowd-sourced its startup funds from customer pre-orders, and plans
to reinvest any first run profits into its supply chain. Next, it hopes to
ethically source both gold and the cobalt needed for the handset's batteries.
"The movement is about inspiring the industry. It's more about different ways
of doing business than a solution for all the problems. We don't have solutions
yet," said Van Abel.
Do you like this post? Please link back to this article by copying one of the codes below.
URL: HTML link code: BB (forum) link code:
No comments:
Post a Comment