Smartphone companies are going about sustainability all wrong .

How so ?

The five ‘ R ’ s are in a specific order for a reason . If manufacturers really want to cut down on e-waste , they should get serious about the first four options .

Reduce : the average consumer buys a new phone every four years . We should be designing phones that last for 10 .

Reuse : there are plenty of things you can do with an old smartphone , from donating it to using it as a backup media player .

� INDIAN SMARTPHONE ADOPTION Despite having a population that rivals China , India remains a largely untapped market . Now , everyone from Google and Jio to Apple are fighting to convert more than 450mn Indians into smartphone users .

� APPLE After the phenomenal success of the iPhone 12 5G , Apple looks like it ’ s going all in on 5G , with every single iPhone slated for release in 2022 confirmed as 5G-capable .

Repair : the World Economic Forum estimates that making smartphones easier to repair could extend their average lifespan by 33 %, saving emissions equivalent to the entire CO2 output of Ireland .

What about Rot ? Surely you ’ re not advocating for a compostable smartphone .

( Partially ) biodegradable smartphones could have been a thing since the beginning . The first bioplastic was invented in 1926 ! And the technology has been more or less ready to go since the 1980s .

Let me guess , it ’ s not quite as cheap as petroleum-based plastics .

Ding ding ding !

� ERICSSON Ericsson just lost out on a massive China Mobile contract to its rival Nokia , further compounding a 60 % drop in Chinese sales this quarter .

� NETFLIX After blistering success during the pandemic , Netflix ' s growth slowed to a crawl this quarter . Still , the streaming service has “ big plans ” for H2 , which look like they might involve gaming .

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