New Trend In 2021, Selling Smartphones Without Chargers

Smartphone illustration (Pixabay)

JAKARTA - Apple made an unexpected breakthrough by eliminating the charger adapter in the sales package for the iPhone 12. Because it wants to be an environmentally friendly and zero waste company.

This decision made Apple get satire from the public, including competing vendors such as Samsung and Xiaomi. Given the price of the iPhone 12, which is priced without a charger adapter, it is still expensive.

"This is our effort to protect the environment. The iPhone 12 does not include a power adapter or EarPods. Please use your current Apple power adapter and headphones or buy these accessories separately," said Apple Vice President Lisa Jackson at the launch of the iPhone line. 12 October.

According to Lisa, this change could reduce more than 2 million metric tons of carbon emissions. He also believes that there are already more than 2 billion charger adapters in the world, so his company no longer needs to include these accessories in their sales packages.

This means that iPhone 12 buyers will only get one Lightning to USB-C cable and one cellphone unit in the sales box. Thus, users are "forced" to buy a separate charger adapter.

Followed by Samsung and Xiaomi

However, it wouldn't be Apple if it wasn't a trendsetter. The reason is that Samsung and Xiaomi are actually following in Apple's footsteps by not including a charging adapter in their latest smartphone sales box.

Reporting from GSM Arena, through a post on social media Weibo, Xiaomi CEO Lei Jun said that their latest cellphone, Mi 11, is certain to be sold without a charger.

Similar to Apple, Jun reasoned that the charger adapter was removed from the Xiami Mi 11 sales box in order to protect the environment. And according to him, currently all consumers have lots of unused chargers that will become a burden to the environment.

"We fully understand this decision may not be understood or even complained about. Is there a better solution between industrial practices and nature protection? We'll talk at the Xiaomi Mi 11 press conference," said Jun.

Not only that, Jun also revealed that the Mi 11 sales box design will be thinner than other Xiaomi phones that include a charger adapter.

Don't worry, we didn't leave anything out of the box with the # Mi10TPro. pic.twitter.com/ToqIjfVEQX

- Xiaomi (@Xiaomi) October 14, 2020

Not only Xiaomi, Samsung is also reportedly not going to provide a charger adapter in the sales package of its newest device. This is evidenced by the appearance of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series certification document issued by the Brazilian certification body ANATEL.

From the report, it was stated that the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 + and Galaxy S21 Ultra cell phones would not be sold with chargers and earphones. Even so, these rumors cannot be confirmed, considering that Samsung will only launch its newest device in early 2021.

Xiaomi and Samsung's decision is considered to be swallowing its own, considering that previously they insinuated Apple which launched the iPhone 12 without a charger on social media. However, Samsung has deleted their video uploads on social media that mock Apple.

A Samsung upload that teases Apple

Third Party Vendor Opportunities

The decision of Apple, Xiaomi and Samsung to no longer include charger adapters in their sales packages, of course, creates great opportunities for third-party manufacturers. It is possible that this trend will also be followed by other vendors.

This means that consumers will be forced to buy accessories separately. Because vendors do not include a charger adapter or other accessories in their sales package.

For example, Apple sells a MagSafe wireless charger for the iPhone 12. Apple sells this wireless charging accessory for around Rp. 570 thousand on Apple's official website.

Of course, the price is not cheap for consumers, considering the iPhone 12 is also relatively expensive. This opportunity is used by other vendors to sell alternative accessories that consumers can buy.

Xiaomi, which is part of the Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) accessories distributor, is rumored to be launching a USB Type C charger adapter with Power Delivery that is compatible for the iPhone 12. The charging adapter has even been sold by Xiaomi since last November, and is marketed at a relatively cheap price.