Translations

FAIRPHONE, creator of the first ethical and modular smartphone

4. Environment

Green design

Sector Telecommunication, Medias, ITC

Year 2017

Country Netherlands

Transmitter

Context

Fairphone became a social entreprise in 2013 in the Netherlands. It is a social company that produces smartphones, which are designed in such a way that the environmental impact is minimized. Nowadays, there are more than 140,000 owners of Fairphone smartphones around the world. The idea behind the company was not to use conflict minerals in their smartphones and increase the durability of their devices.

Objectives

Design smartphones that last longer.
Use fair materials in production.
Insure good working conditions.
Implement a circular economy through reuse and recycling.

APPROACH

The starting point of the project was a crowdfunding campaign to gather the resources needed to create the first Fairphone device. The opinion about the project was so positive that the initial estimation of 5000 phones was exceeded leading to a total sold out of 60000 Fairphone 1.

Transparency is at the heart of the company’s values. which is mainly reflected by the amount of communication regarding the whole lifecycle of the product, from the complexity of the supply chain to the cost structure of the Fairphone. The goal is to map the supply chain in order to visualize the flow of materials from start to finish. This, in turn, empowers customers to make informed decisions when it comes to buying a smartphone, solving the problem of having inequality of information.

Fairphone focuses on creating a positive impact on society and the environment and building strong relationships with the different suppliers across four continents. Improving working conditions is one of their main objectives, which includes health and safety and working hours.

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CONTRIBUTION TO COMPANY PERFORMANCE

The share of the profit of the company in projected consumer price of Fairphone 2 is 1.7%.
The estimated sales of this model are 140,000 phones.
Profit before corporate tax of this project is forecasted at the level of 1.26 mln. euros.
In 2017 the company secured 6.5 mln. euros to scale up its positive impact throughout the electronic value chain.
Winner of the Green Product Award in 2017 in category «Consumer Electronics».
GreenTec Award 2015.

Benefits

Due to the modular design of the Fairphone 2 users can keep their phone for longer and save 30% of Co2 emissions and valuable resources needed to produce smartphones.
Through the application of the circular economy, Fairphone aims to extend the lifecycle of the Fairphone 2, and expect a minimum duration of 3-5 years.
Environmental-friendly device to allow the user to use, review, and modify the smartphone easily. If an accident happens, the user can simply replace the screen and not the entire phone.