In 2010 a Dutch start-up company was founded to create a new smartphone which is responsible-minded manufactured. That sounds kind of easy but actually it isn’t. Smartphones contain a lot of different and hard to get resources and materials. After three years of developing and constructing the new Fairphone the first 50% are sold and will be shipped in October.
But how fair is the new Fairphone ?
In an interview with the German a magazine (Wirtschaftswoche) the PR person (Roos van de Weerd) admits it isn’t 100% fair. Only two of the 30 metals which were used to build the new phone are fair. Two doesn’t sound that much but considering that Fairphone is a small company and they can’t make big deals with vendors and manufacturers it’s start. Furthermore for each sold Fairphone the company gives 3€ to an initiative which collects old smartphones in Ghana and recycles them in Belgium. Also the Dutch start-up tried to make as many parts as possible replaceable so people will use their phone for a longer time and can replace things on their own. The Fairphone will be more developed which probably means there will be a fairer Fairphone in the future.
A small insight in production
Mid-Range technology for a fair price
325 € and one of the 20.000 available Fairphones is yours. For that price you get an android mobile (4.2 Jelly Bean) with 4,3 inch screen (960 x 540 pixel resolution) and a 8 MP camera (1,3 MP Front-Camera). Furthermore it’s equipped with a Quad-Core-Processor and has the ability to work with two SIM-Cards (Dual-SIM). For detailed specs click here.
Maybe it’s not 100% fair but it’s a beginning and the dutch start-up shows that there is a way to produce a Fairphone. It takes time to develop a sustainable smartphone but it’s possible.
Image by: Fairphone – flickr.com (CC-BY-2.0)