Its not a household name when it comes to buying phones.
Why its important to use your phone for longer
40% off TNW Conference!
So the longer you stick with a gear, the lesser the impact on the environment.
A lot of phones are not designed to allow those repairs nowadays.
Plus, we have upgrade and recycle programs to confirm the materials are used sustainably.
Gouwens noted that this program is extended to modules as well.
For that, the company needed to make the phone more repairable.
With Fairphone 4, its already offering a five-year warranty, and aims to provide software support until 2027.
But releasing phones with a longer gap between devices also comes with its downside.
You cant get the industrys latest and greatest specifications in Fairphones.
Building an audience for sustainable phones
Fairphones sustainability also comes at a cost.
Its latest Fairphone 4 costs 579 (about $600).
But its never really life-changing, and smartphones have become more and more similar over the years.
So with Fairphone 4, we aimed to make a phone that was relevant for years of usage.
The firm sold 100,000 phones last year, and has already sold 50,000 devices this year.
For comparison, Apple reportedly soldmore than 239 million devices last year.
The company said it has more than 200,000 active Fairphone users.
But it expects that number to go up rapidly soon.
What does the future look like?
Fairphones scale compared to other smartphone makers in the market is minuscule.
The company only operates in Europe, and sells a few thousand phones every year.
Now we need to convince users who are not willing to compromise and just want a normal phone.
But they are willing to pay a premium as long as the companys goal is noble.
To that end, the company launched a pair of truly wireless earbuds at 99.95 last year.
Gouwens emphasized that Fairphone is different, because its looking at making a ground-up impact.
We have an agenda of changing the system.
That’s one heck of a mixed bag.
He likes to say “Bleh.
That’s one heck of a mixed bag.
He likes to say “Bleh.”
