I totally agree. With 12MP camera unavailable too! I was expecting full spares support to last AT LEAST five years after the end of production.
In case you don’t receive it the text of the email is below (links removed as I only just joined):
" Dear customer,
Today, I’m reaching out to you to let you know ahead of time that we will stop selling Fairphone 2 Bottom Modules by the end of this month. If your Fairphone 2 is still under warranty, a replacement Bottom Module will be available to you through our [Customer Support].
For all Fairphone 2 users whose device is not covered by the manufacturing warranty anymore, I recommend checking in with our [community forum], where you can find a marketplace for buying and selling spare parts. Another helpful resource is our support articles on how to extend the lifespan of your phone ([battery lifespan], [SIM card issues]. For everyone who’d like to check if they can fix the problem themselves, we have our [troubleshooting tool]). And, of course, you’re always welcome to [reach out to our Customer Support team], who can review all available options with you.
Now, I would like to offer some context to the situation. We launched Fairphone 2 back in 2015, and together with a loyal and dedicated community of users, we managed to support it for more than five years.
Ensuring the availability of spare parts becomes an increasingly delicate balancing act once the manufacturing of the phone stops. Ideally, we’d sell infinite spare parts to our customers for as long as they are needed while also ensuring we didn’t make one single module too many to prevent excess e-waste. But this is not the reality - although we do our very best to find a balance between these two objectives and keep devices going as long as possible. Fairphone 2 was the second phone we produced and the first modular phone in the industry. Producing the first modular phone presented new challenges in the supply chain. It came with difficulties in ensuring we had an adequate stock of spare parts. Stocking spare parts becomes more complicated once a device is no longer in production. And moving production for a limited amount of spare parts to another manufacturer is not a possibility.
That said, I must emphasize that this is not the end of Fairphone 2. We have enough supply of other spare parts, such as batteries and displays, as well as a major Android upgrade coming up shortly. However, I realize that no longer providing replacement Bottom Modules will be a serious challenge for some of you (who are out of warranty). For that, I sincerely apologize.
If you have questions concerning your Fairphone 2 or our effort to keep it going as long as possible, please feel free to [reach out to our Customer Support team].
With gratitude,
Eva Gouwens
CEO, Fairphone"