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A Dutch startup has demonstrated publicly for the first time in London the Fairphone. The demand is huge. But how sustainable is the Smartphone actually really?
The first socially just and most environmentally friendly manufactured Smartphone has been unveiled for the first time on Monday in London. Interested parties can only pre-order the Fairphone. Allegedly it should be delivered on time in December this holiday season.
The display is rather small with 4.3 inch and displays the pictures with 960 x 540 points. For comparison, the iPhone 5 has a 4 inch screen with 1136 × 640 pixels.
GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth are built into the Smartphone. However, LTE Turbo Internet access does not provide the Fairphone. Also Near Field Communication (NFC) does not support the device. The manufacturer refused to accessories such as headset or car charger. You assume in terms of sustainability, that this attachment already exists. As already usual in Asia, the Fairphone offers two slots for SIM cards - a career and a business.
The idea arose from an initiative founded in 2010 in the Netherlands against the civil war coltan in mobile phones, to make itself a fair cell phone. The goal: A Smartphone that is technically and priced on par with the incumbent providers, but without any problematic resources and poor working conditions.
Transparency is important for the Dutch. Therefore, they have disclosed the production costs of the Smartphones already a few days ago. The bulk of the selling price of 325 euros goes therefore for technology and design of the Fairphones on it - 185 euro. At the same time, the sustainability efforts alone cost 22 euros. These are about the usage for socially acceptable working conditions, sustainability initiatives, or eco-balance studies. For comparison: the impact of VAT comes to customers twice as expensive - depending on the country. The cut is just 56 euros. At Fairphone, an operating result of five euros per Smartphone remains according to own.
"Of course, the figures are based on average of the production can't stand for each individual model," says Tessa Wernink, spokeswoman of Fairphone compared to the portal Wiwo Green. "We want to give a most accurate picture of our customers, however, what we do and show where your money goes."
The sustainable concept of the Dutch is popular. Two-thirds of all Fairphones are already sold nearly 15,000 copies. And, although recently the number of available models to 5,000 units has been increased to 25,000. Sure the price is responsible for the high demand: with 325 euro is the fair phone sometimes far less than what Apple, Samsung and other manufacturers by their customers demand.
Because as sustainable as the concept sounds, it isn't at closer look. Spokesman of Roos van de Weerd told Wiwo Green: "two of the metals, which contains the device, are free of conflicts: the Tin in the solder paste and the tantalum in capacitors." Given the only two fair trade materials not appear dozens of materials that contains a standard cell phone, as a major step forward. We are clearly not to 100 percent free of conflicts."
The branch-like supply chains were main reason. In turn, suppliers had suppliers. Here the control to keep, is nigh to impossible. However, the startup on the issue stay tuned. The breakdown of expenses are already first indications for the second generation of the Fairphones: it says, that the Dutch startup for the next model seeking fair traded gold, copper and cobalt.
