I suggest FP to produce a mini tablet. the Android world has currently nothing like the popular iPad Mini. but do it in the slightly smaller size of the old mediapad X2. advantage: it still fits into every pocket of every jacket. when FP is the only alternative on the Android market for a mini tablet, this will help to draw new folks towards sustainability: they discover FP because it’s the only mini tablet available.
with a mini tablet, you also address another need for which there is currently nothing available, neither on Android nor on iOS:
→ really big phones for people with big hands.
my boyfriend has big hands as many, many men do in northern Europe, North America and Russia, Netherlands and Germany. he loved absolutely the biggg mediapad X2. that phone was so popular that even 4 years after it’s launch, long after the end of its production, used items still sold on eBay for almost the original price!!
so, please equip your mini tablet with full phone capabilities.
There are many desires for this and that on this forum, but it is just a user forum, so such desires are left to float around bringing more clouds
For you and others with ideas on products it may be useful to contact support at fairphone dot com, so they get a better sense of what viable products they could invest in.
But don’t hold your breath for a bigger product, so many want a smaller one, there are many smaller hands, and yet the phones get bigger
but to explain my original post: in terms of growth and marketing strategy, one needs to think about market segments that are very surprisingly not yet occupied by any product and where a newcomer like FP has a chance.
PS: yes, this is a user forum, but isn’t it more useful to send to FP a link to this discussion, showing the diversity of opinions?
I wouldn’t think so. I’m sure their heads are full of the options. And I don’t think your personal request would change their plans.
Generally I would avoid the use of statements that dictate what another should do
It’s not my business and if it was I would not be happy being told what to do.
Fairphone can make their own mistakes, but It seems they are doing just fine.
So many people are unhappy with the products they have bought, but they are selling.
The fairtrade issue makes it very expensive, so the range of models are going to be very limited…
That there three versions of the FP4 with possible hardware updates is a huge step, maybe not in the direction many wanted, smaller, bigger, but a big step. Asking and wanting more is beyond reasonable thinking, me thinks.
Tablets are far less in demand than smartphones. Between large smartphones (‘phablets’), dedicated devices such as portable game consoles, and laptops there is simply not much market for a tablet or ‘very large smartphone without LTE/NG’. The amount of people who’d want to buy such device is small, so its hard to get your R&D on making such device back. It didn’t work out for Jolla, they almost went belly up with their lil’ tablet project.
Furthermore, such a device would need an OS tailored for the bigger screen usage. Its not a matter of slapping Android on it. If the current tablets suck, software-wise, so would a fair one, since Fairphone is pretty much vanilla Android by default (and that’s what the vast majority of users prefer).
As people become older, their fingers get more thick. However, smartphone screens have already become bigger in the 2010 decade. Its the people with small hands who’ve lost, since smartphones are getting bigger and bigger.
Sales numbers of iPads do not forecast any success for an Android tablet. There are so many things that must be taken into account, I name just a few:
OS.
Availability and quality of apps.
Longevity.
Apple are Apple, some people are addicted to buy their products every time they are launched, which is just the opposite of what Fairphone want: to use electronic devices as long as possible. No wonder that sales numbers cannot be compared with those of Apple…
You and others with ideas on merchandise should be helpful to contact support at fairphone so that they get a stronger sense of what viable merchandise they may invest in.
No problem but I hope you note this is just a user forum, not a Faiphone official site so the request if falling on deaf ears so to speak. NO harm in contacting support|at|fairphone|dot|com but don’t expect a prompt response.
