I am an International Business student with a concentration in Entrepreneuship. I am a french exchange student currently studying for 2 years at Northeastern University, in Boston MA. I am writing to you because I am writing a paper for my innovation class. And I chose to write it about Fairphone, because I am very interested by this innovative and responsible way of producing a smartphone. Indeed, I would like to work with corporate social responsibility at the end of college.
So, I would like to know what were your motivation to buy the Fairphone? If you bought it, are you happy with it? And what do you think about companies being more and more social, sustainable and responsible towards the community, the stakeholders and the planet.
Thank you for the answers !!! this will be very helpful
Have a nice day !!!
Marie
I bought mine because it’s labled “fair” and the company seems to be transparent and trustworthy about that. Whenever I read the word “fair” or “environment friendly” on some product, it’s just superior to “normal” products in my mind, which is probably a little naive. But I hope to make the world a little bit better and fairer by supporting brands like fairphone. I don’t mind spending a little bit more money in order to do so.
This is not the only reason why I’ m happy with my phone though. Mine works just fine. It has eveything I need and looks pretty good. Although I’m probably going to buy the new camera module if it really should come (I had a Lumia 1020 before and it’s a huge step downwards from there)
Feel free to ask more if you need more stuff for your paper.
I got a Fairphone because my previous phone (Nokia C5) had to be sent in three times and still it was noflt fixed afterwards. I wanted a longer lasting phone and that’s what I got (with some minor compromises); my Fairphone 1 is almost 3 years old now.
Now I wouldn’t want to get any other phone anymore because I wouldn’t want to miss out on this awesome community!
In Dec. 2014 @EvaS and me organized the first-ever Fairphone community meetup and soon after we, together with @paulakreuzer, founded the Austrian Fairphoners. A lot of other groups have formed since then.
Their community-focused approach makes Fairphone, as a company, very special and different to most other companies. From the beginning they have been providing this very forum for the community to discuss and they have been very open to community events, supporting us with stickers, t-shirts and other materials (have you heard about the new community FP2?).
If you go into CSR eventually, please help building such a great engaging company culture.
Hello Marie,
I bought my Fairphone because I believe that something needs to be done on the mobile market. Too much waste, too bad conditions for the workers, etc. The Fairphone project just seemed to match my values. Just a small step to try to make the phone industry better.
I am very happy with the phone. I am not a complicated user, I don’t expect much from a mobile phone and I’ve always had second hand phones (old and slow) before. So, in comparison, quite an improvement! But I know that I didn’t go for the most powerful or advanced phone on the market (which I wouldn’t need anyway).
What concerns the last question, I think that companies should care more about social issues and sustainable solutions. As consumers, it’s our job to choose the good products and we should agree to pay the price for it. I think that governments can help as well. For example, It shouldn’t be allowed to buy electronic products with one year warranty only.
In the EU, it is not allowed to sell electronic products with less than 2 years of warranty. In preliminary discussions on the Circular Economy, many even suggest to extend this period further…
On the question by @MarieC, my motivation was very simple: conflict minerals. When I first heard about the Fairphone 1, it was mainly focussing on this issue. So I had not much “choice” in reasons to buy one
It’s a problem I’ve been interested in for years, so I was very happy to learn about this initiative to start changing the system from within, sot by yelling loud from the outside (which has its use and should not be underestimated either, of course).
Later, I was very happy to learn they also tried to focus on e-waste and other labour issues besides the mining.
I’m very happy with it, even though I had to replace my FP1 by a FP2 because for some reason my phone crashed completely every month. It was not a functional phone any more I’m very, very happy with the FP2 though, especially with the continuing pursuit of fair minerals and the modular design to prevent e-waste. I show it to everyone and take the screen off regularly (especially at congresses and such, where a lot of like-minded people are found!).
Even though I would like every company to be like FP (more social, sustainable and responsible), I know it’s not likely this will be the major business model anywhere in the near future. The opposite behavior is rewarded by the current economic system (and I know we have to change the system, I just don’t see it happen too soon). But that’s why I like FP so much: they prove that, even in the current system, it is possible to be social, sustainable and responsible and still be profitable. It shows us there are no more excuses: if a company doesn’t do it, it’s a choice, not because it’s not possible.
I agree. And even in the EU, some people still think that the warranty is only one year, so they don’t bother to get the product back. In the USA, it’s still one year!
I’m very, very happy with the FP2 though, especially with the continuing pursuit of fair minerals and the modular design to prevent e-waste. I show it to everyone and take the screen off regularly (especially at congresses and such, where a lot of like-minded people are found!).