‘Of course we’re looking into other markets’: Fairphone CEO on expansion plans and the unique challenges of the US market

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 ...