The "fair" phone

Amidst all the hubbub surrounding the Ubuntu Edge crowdfunding effort, we came across another, similar effort that merits a look: the Fairphone. Its vision is different than Canonical's convergence concept, but it is also using crowdfunding to jumpstart production. Fairphone is more than just technology, however, as the company seeks to redefine the economics and supply chains of phones (and other electronics) with the goals of more transparency and ... well ... fairness.

The goals are ambitious, but one milestone has already been met. The crowdfunding target of 5,000 phones (at €325) was easily met in June, three weeks into its month-long campaign. Over 10,000 were eventually sold. The money raised has allowed the non-profit to build 20,000 phones, so there are still phones available—at the original price. The phones are only available in Europe, at least currently, though there are hints that other regions will be added eventually. The delivery date is expected to be in October.

For phone hardware, the first Fairphone model is solid, but not spectacular: a quad-core 1.2 GHz ARM processor running a customized Android 4.2 with 1G of RAM, 16G of storage, 4.3" display (960x540), dual SIM slots, removable battery, 8 and 1.3 megapixel cameras, the usual array of sensors, and so on. No chargers or headphones are included and the phone is said to use "minimal packaging". Both of those are in keeping with the low-impact mission of Fairphone.

The company got its start in 2010 as a research project of several Dutch non-profit organizations to gather information and raise awareness of the conflicts and wars fueled by the extraction of minerals used in consumer electronics. That research, which focused on minerals from the Democratic Republic of the Congo, took three years. The phone project came about in 2013 with the "aim of designing, creating and producing our first smartphone and taking the next crucial step in uncovering the story behind the sourcing, production, distribution and recycling of electronics", according to the company web site.

So Fairphone wants to produce a long-lasting phone (to reduce waste) that is made from "conflict-free" minerals, mined by workers who are paid a fair wage. In fact, the goal is that all of the workers in the supply chain are paid a fair wage and work under reasonable conditions (both from a safety and environmental protection standpoint). The company is also conscious of reducing e-waste; recycling and reusing any materials that can be. "Our end goal is fewer phones in circulation – not more".

Obviously, those are some ambitious goals—overly ambitious, some would say. But they are worthwhile goals. Anything that can be learned from pursuing them will be valuable information that can be used by other device makers. This is an area where Fairphone clearly shines, as transparency is yet another goal of the project. That leads to blog posts detailing the production process, including sourcing conflict-free tin paste and tantalum capacitors, packaging issues, and more. In fact, the blog has a wealth of information about various facets of Fairphone, its mission, and its progress.

Transparency is not limited to the production process. Pricing, and how €325 was arrived at, are part of what Fairphone will be disclosing. The design of the phone is open as well. As might be guessed for a company whose manifesto is "if you can't open it, you don't own it", the phone is rootable and the OS is easily replaceable. There is mention of both Ubuntu Touch and Firefox OS as possible replacements—CyanogenMod seems like it should be a slam dunk.

Like many of the goals, the transparency goals have not been completely met. More information is pending on pricing, for example, and the list of suppliers [PDF] is incomplete, but the intentions seem good. Given that it all started as a research project, which morphed into an actual product, it may take some time to fully realize all of the goals.

In fact, full realization of the goals of the project are probably many years away, if ever. Not all of the components will be "conflict free", for example, at least in the first model. As described in a ZDNet article, the company is running into many of the same issues that other phone and device-makers have hit—it's simply not easy to change the parts that go into a device. But, that doesn't mean that it isn't worth trying.

From a cost perspective, the Fairphone seems fairly reasonable. Many smartphones are substantially more expensive. The extra effort in making a cleaner and more fair device seems to come almost for free. It's a bit hard to see major phone makers switching to conflict-free tin paste (or fair pay throughout the supply chain) any time soon, as it might impact the all-important bottom line. Over time, though, efforts like Fairphone may help bring the costs down to a level where the "big boys" will start using them. It may also raise consumer awareness to a point where there is demand for devices of this nature. Either outcome would certainly be a step in the right direction.