Far Eastern Telecommunications (FET) has announced that it will start marketing a modular smartphone developed by Netherlands-based Fairphone in the Taiwanese market shortly.
FET said it will promote the modularized model, the Fairphone 4, in cooperation with channel operator Palcom International, a subsidiary of Compal Electronics, which will serve as the exclusive sales agent for the Dutch company.
Citing data from Fairphone, Palcom sales director PC Chen said that consumers tend to replace mobile phones due mainly to cracked screens, reduced battery life, and insufficient camera pixel resolutions.
And yet mobile phones are the world's most sold IT products, and only 15% of discarded mobile phones have been recycled, causing significant impacts on the overall environment and likely becoming an enormous burden to society.
Fairphone has been developing modular smartphones since 2015 with the consideration of helping reduce carbon emissions and component wastes while extending the production lift cycles of mobile phones, Chen added.
The Fairphone 4, Fairphone's third-generation modular model, allows users to easily replace screens, camera modules, batteries and other components. Chen said related processes are expected to help reduce carbon emissions by nearly 45% compared with conventional mobile phones.
Palcom will provide a 5-year guarantee of sufficient supplies of parts and components for the Fairphone 4.
Fairphone has shipped over 500,000 units of its modular phones to the European market, according to industry sources.
