The US is the runaway leader when it comes to AI development, but there is still plenty of smartphone innovation happening outside of Silicon Valley.
Some of the most advanced phones in the world – the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, Oppo Find X8 Pro, and Honor Magic 7 Pro, for instance – aren’t officially sold in the US, while the world’s most sustainable phone, the Fairphone 6, is currently only available in European markets.
Scratch that: you can buy the Fairphone 6 in the US, but only in a de-Googled /e/OS configuration, as exclusively sold by Murena for an eye-watering $899. For reference, the Android-powered European version of the device costs £499 / €599, so it’s perhaps no surprise that Fairphones aren’t flying off the shelves across the pond right now.
Might that situation change in the future? I put the question to Fairphone’s CEO, Raymond van Eck, who explained the unique challenges of the US market and the likelihood of Fairphone expanding its operations outside of Western Europe.
“I’m not saying that we’re not looking into other geographies,” van Eck told me at the Exertis tech conference in London, where he also spoke about the “myth” behind the cost of sustainability. “Of course, if you look outside of Europe, in countries like India, the US, or every other big country that has a few [mobile] operators, they can be of interest to us. In fact, if you look at our socials, we have a lot of followers from India and the US. So, those are things that, in due time, we can look into – but there is still a lot of potential for us to grab in Europe.”
“Our resources are scarce as well,” van Eck continued, “so we want to put them towards doubling down in the markets where we are very successful right now – those are the UK, the Netherlands, Germany, and France, and we supply 14 other European countries.
“And yes, of course, we are also looking into other markets, but as you know, if you go to the US, there’s a little side [situation] where you have to look into antenna systems that are suitable for the bandwidth. You can roam perfectly well with the Fairphone 6 [in the US]. That’s no problem. And we also see Murena selling the [de-Googled] Gen 6 in the US as well. But in order to be certified on the networks, you have to create a different antenna system, and our phones are modular. So that means we have to puzzle it all in, and [doing so] takes resources and time.
In order to be certified on the networks, you have to create a different antenna system, and our phones are modular.
Raymond van Eck, Fairphone CEO
“Those are all aspects that we weigh in on if we want to enter another market. […] To sell in the US, there have to be aspects of the phone that are different from the European ones, or you have to design a phone for both markets.”
It’s clear, then, that Fairphone is – for now – focused on growing its core European markets, and we’re not likely to see an Android-powered Fairphone in the US any time soon.
I asked van Eck whether the ongoing tariff situation in the US might have delayed Fairphone’s plans to expand overseas, to which the CEO replied: “The way I see it, strategy-wise, the tariff situation is just like the weather: it can change over time. You have to make the [business] strategy based on the geopolitical climate. If I look specifically at the tariff situation, well, first of all, we’re not selling into the US. So for us, for now, that’s not a big influencer.
“But we have quite a close and intimate relationship with our suppliers, because they need to comply with all the sustainability frameworks and measures that we have. So we’re in [a good position of] contact with them if, for instance, resources like memory chips become scarce. And that’s, of course, the thing that is being influenced by tariffs, right? If other suppliers are all of a sudden buying extra chips to make sure that they have enough stock, we know that in advance as well, because we have tight relationships with our suppliers. And that helps us a lot in this situation.”
The Fairphone 6 is now available in the UK for £499, while an open-source (i.e., de-Googled) version is available in the US for $899 / £549. For our full verdict on the phone’s quality, check out our Fairphone 6 review.
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