The Vergecast

Can Fairphone survive the US market

Montag, 31. August 2026 · 26 min

MP3

Shownotes

Skyrocketing RAM prices put a spotlight on product longevity and repairability, which makes this a particularly apt time for Fairphone to launch its first smartphone sold directly in the United States. Today, David Imel talks to CEO Raymond van Eck about the Fairphone 6+, the company's goals of user-repairability and ethically-sourced materials, and what place AI has in the future of Fairphone.

Further reading:

• ⁠Read Tim Cook’s final message to Apple staff as CEO⁠ (theverge.com/tech/986832/read-tim-cooks-final-…)

• ⁠Sony Music Publishing and Warner Chappell are suing Anthropic⁠ (theverge.com/ai-artificial-intelligence/986438…)

• ⁠Google capitulates in Trump’s attempt to rename Lake Ontario.⁠ (theverge.com/policy/986527/google-capitulates-…)

• ⁠MapQuest downloads surge after refusing to rename Lake Ontario.⁠ (theverge.com/tech/986756/mapquest-downloads-su…)

• ⁠MapQuest knows this whole thing is ridiculous.⁠ (theverge.com/policy/986576/mapquest-knows-this…)

• ⁠Fairphone’s latest repairable phone is going on sale in the US⁠ (theverge.com/tech/980876/fairphone-6-plus-us-t…)

• ⁠The new Fairphone 6 Plus gets a perfect repairability score.⁠ (theverge.com/tech/981413/fairphone-6-plus-smar…)

• ⁠The Fairphone 6 no longer feels like a compromise (except in the US)⁠ (theverge.com/phones/762755/fairphone-6-review-…)

• ⁠This environmentally conscious smartphone is finally coming to the US⁠ (theverge.com/2023/7/5/23783714/murena-fairphon…)

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