Not even 60,000 of you want an ethically-sourced smartphone

Re: Exploitation-free?

Did you not smell BS when you read about Marxism?

Re: Name change Please

That's probably a good idea.

Refreshing the specs is also absolutely necessary. As a small organisation they really have worked wonders within a limited budget and capability, however they got the first phones out the door in late 2013 based on what was already a bit dated spec. What they are still selling is the same design as they haven't had the capability to refresh the design yet, so right up until their new release in 2016 they will be selling a 2013 spec phone.

I guess that's par for the course when you have tens of employees rather than tens of thousands and sales volumes of thousands rather than millions... but in any case, every luck to them!

Re: Name change Please

Hint: nobody seriously uses the term 'politically correct' (PC) any more. It's purely used by those who are against certain policies or ethical frameworks.

That aside, you do have a point that an effective way to bring ethical sourcing into products is to make a really good product that people want which just happens to be ethical - or indeed to make the ethical version the norm. You can't buy non-Fairtrade bananas from Sainsburys, for example. And while I think ethical brands such as Cafedirect (coffee + tea) and Divine (chocolate) have their place in establishing a market, making supermarket own-brand products fairtrade seems to grow the market better.

There's an appreciable market for ethical products, and a slight markup over the less ethical ones seems to be accepted by the market. Likewise premium products manage quite well to be ethical.

If the Fairphone had launched with a slight premium and better marketing, it could have done well. The trouble is that it was somewhat more expensive than comparable models, and its launch coincided with the arrival of really good budget Android phones (Moto G etc), making the price disparity even starker.

Re: Name change Please

Please, do not call a phone a "FairPhone".

They could try the FlairPhone then. But does the name really matter. What about the Moto G2. If they got to G7 would it be boycotted by all anti-capitalists?

My wife has one. It's pretty good - if what you want is a mobile 'phone.

Of course, if you have to have the latest iPhone of Samsung S5 then you won't like it, but only because it doesn't have the right logo on it.

Re: It might be created ethically, but it still runs Android

They were talking of a Firefox version I think

Re: Who made what now?

There's nowhere near enough handsets in the supply chain for a marketing campaign. The second production run has created what would be a tiny amount of stock for any sales drive. What they have achieved could almost be called a proof-of concept exercise, making a small number of phones with traceable raw materials and better (though not Western) practices in the assembly plants: to make a profit at a price that's within 50% of massive scale production counts as a success.

Oh, and the Co-op are selling them. http://www.thephone.coop/fairphone/

Re: Who made what now?

I found the 2013 Register article sufficiently interesting to prompt me to visit their website and pre-order one. An advertising campaign would have raised the price. If they've now sold 54,000, I trust that personal recommendations will get them into the hundreds of thousands next time.

It's probably not the best dual SIM, replaceable battery, android 'phone, but it's adequate and puts a little goodness into this world.

If you shop at Tesco, bank with Barclays, use TNT, etc. then you're unlikely to understand the point of this 'phone.

Re: Needs a better name

I think just calling it the PC Phone would cover all of that.