Despite Apple’s mockery of not including an iPhone charger, Samsung and Xiaomi are now expected to follow suit and remove the charging adapter from their future smartphones.
/article-new/2020/12/samsung-charger-post.jpg?resize=560%2C689&ssl=1)
Along with the announcement of the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, Apple has announced that it will no longer include the charging adapter with all new iPhones, citing environmental issues. The move has been publicly criticized by rival smartphone makers Samsung and Xiaomi.
The day after the announcement of honeiPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, Xiaomi posted a video promoting Mi 10T Pro on social media showing the unboxing of a charger accompanied by the comment “Don’t worry, I didn’t leave anything out of the box.”
Samsung similarly posted a picture of a charger with the text “Included with Galaxy” and the message:
# Your Galaxy gives you what you are looking for. From the simplest as a charger, to the best camera, battery, performance, memory and even 120Hz screen.
Despite these posts on social networks that are clearly amused by Apple’s decision, Samsung is now considered, based on regulatory documents, to remove the charger from the Galaxy S21, which will be unveiled on January 14. This may now be more likely given that Samsung has completely deleted its “most basic as a charger” post on social media, as noted HTTech.
Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun has also confirmed on Weibo that the company’s future Mi 11 phone will not come with a charger due to environmental issues. Jun said smartphone users already have many chargers, so including another Mi 11 device would contribute to an unnecessary environmental burden:
Xiaomi Mi 11 is officially presented with new packaging, both light and thin.
Behind the weakness, we made an important decision: in response to the call of technology and environmental protection, Xiaomi 11 canceled the included charger.
Today everyone has a lot of inactive chargers, which is both a burden for you and for the environment. We are aware that this decision may not be understood or even complained about. Is there a better solution between industrial practice and environmental protection?
iPhones now come without wired EarPods or a boxed power adapter, with only a Lightning to USB-C charging cable included. With these accessories removed, all new iPhones now ship in a thinner box. Apple claims the environmental benefits of no longer grouping these accessories, noting that this move reduces carbon emissions and avoids the exploitation and use of rare earth elements.
With a major competitor no longer offering accessories such as the power adapter and EarPods, Samsung and Xiaomi may now believe that consumers are ready to buy accessories separately. Samsung and Xiaomi have known similar trends set by Apple in the past. For example, Samsung made fun of Apple for removing the headphone jack from the ihone 7 in 2016 before reflecting on the decision and launching the Galaxy A8 2018 without a headphone jack.