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| In this 2009 file photo, gold miners form a human chain while digging an open pit at the Chudja mine near the village of Kobu, 100 km (62 miles) in north-eastern Congo, home to the world's biggest reserves of cobalt. Reuters/ Finbarr O'Reilly/ Files |
Source: Thomson Reuters Foundation
by Katie Nguyen, 16 November 2015
(In paragraph 9, corrects “company’s” to “Fairphone’s”)
LONDON, Nov 16 (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Few brands would risk showing the reality of the complex supply chains behind their products, but Fairphone has staked its reputation on beingtransparent in an industry often accused of prolonging wars, harming the environment and using child labour.
The Dutch company started off in 2010 raising awareness about the links between electronics and minerals mined in conflict zones, before deciding it would make a greater impact by producing ethical smartphones of its own.
"We've been able to show there's a huge demand, there's an increasing demand for ethical products in the consumersphere," Bas van Abel, Fairphone founder and chief executive, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation in an interview.
Fairphone has sold 60,000 handsets so far - 25,000 of them snapped up in a crowdfunding exercise before the firm had made a single phone.
It has received more than 20,000 orders for Fairphone 2, due to be launched next month, and aims to sell 140,000 a year, van Abel said, though he admits the numbers are modest compared to the units being sold by the world's electronics giants.
Apple, for example, sold more than 13 million iPhone 6s and 6s Pluses in the first weekend they were available.
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