Everyone is all praises about the more than superior USB-C Cord.
According to the rule that was proposed by the European Commission yesterday, small technical gadgets such as tablets, headphones as well as mobile phones will be having the same standardized chargers. This small decision is going to have big ramifications for the makers of the devices.
The proposal was made to prevent electronic waste and the charging cables that are thrown out by the European citizens every year, which according to the estimates of the commission is worth more than 11,000 tons. If this law gets passed the makers of the electronic devices will be given two years for making new devices compatible with USB-C so that the consumers would no longer have to get new chargers with all the new devices that they purchase.
- The European Union was of the plan of cutting down the chargers that consumers have been storing in their junk drawers since 2009 when the consumers had the option to choose from 30 plus different chargers. Since then, it’s has come down to having 3 famous options.
The company which is going to be affected the most by this rule would be Apple. Apple is a company that notoriously doesn’t go well with the other devices. Though the new versions of the iPad have USB-C ports, iPhones are still using lighting chargers. In order to change its course, it might cost Apple close to $1 billion.
- 21% of Apple smartphones that were sold in the year 2018 had Lighting ports.
Apple has said that this ruling made by the EC is going to hurt customers & stifle innovation. Even in the past, the company has made objections to the mandates for common chargers and said that this would lead to creating more waste when customers will be dumping their old cords for replacing them with new ones.
In the bigger picture:
Apple is already having anti-trust battles with the EU. The EU had accused Apple of the violation of competition rules.