The Berlin-based start-up Carbon Mobile announces the relocation of its production of sustainable smartphones to Germany. In partnership with commerce & lifecycle service provider, Ingram Micro, the company’s future devices will be produced in the former Motorola factory in Flensburg.
The location takes into account the vision to increase high-end quality and sustainability in smartphone production whilst reinstating Schleswig-Holstein in Northern Germany, an influential region in technology. At the same time, the price of the Carbon 1 MK II smartphone, launched in March 2021, will lower to 599 euros.
Firas Khalifeh, founder and CEO of Carbon Mobile, explained
“We have committed ourselves to sustainability and quality in the production of smartphones in Europe. With the new location in Germany, we can reduce our exhaust emissions for the production and transport of our devices even further and create new jobs in the coming years. Ingram Micro already operates the workshops for the repair of our smartphones and can therefore bring comprehensive knowledge of our technology into production. For us, these are the best conditions to jointly revive the city of Flensburg as a production powerhouse for smartphones.”
The first test batch of 150 devices has already successfully rolled off the production line.
Eric Rositzki, General Manager Ingram Micro Commerce & Lifecycle Services, adds
“We are proud to make an active contribution to the sustainability and quality strategy of Carbon Mobile. We support the clear vision and success of the new Carbon 1 MK II.”
The revolutionary carbon fiber smartphone
The Carbon 1 MK II is the world’s first carbon fibre smartphone, developed to show the next generation of sustainable, high-performance technologies.
“German engineering perfection and cutting-edge materials innovation meet to give life to the new future of mobile telephony… A huge step forward to offer the most incredible, thinner, lighter, and more sustainable technological experiences of tomorrow”
Today, the industry produces 50 million tonnes of e-waste every year, most of which cannot be recycled. Firas Khalifeh reports, “Working with advanced materials is the necessary first step to closing the loop on E-Waste. The Carbon 1 MK II is built with a unique lightweight monocoque body making it 33 percent lighter than the average smartphone. If all devices were made in this way, the industry could save 100,000 tonnes of the earth’s resources every year.”
A partnership with Cleanhub allows 500 grams of plastic waste to be collected from the ocean-bound waste for every device sold, making it the world’s first plastic-neutral smartphone. Future generations of their smartphone devices will include bio-based carbon fibre and enhanced repairability features to increase longer lifecycles of their products.
The Carbon 1 MK II is possible thanks to Carbon Mobile’s revolutionary HyRECM Technology, a hybrid material with all the benefits of carbon fiber that is also “radio-friendly” to eliminate connectivity issues. The material is considered a breakthrough in material science and is characterized mainly by its strength and lightweight, which allowed the development of the lightest (125 grams) and thinnest (6.3 millimeters) smartphone made of carbon fiber to date.
