Apple Trying To Avoid Universal Charging Port Rules In India

Apple has for years offered a unique lightning connector port (photo: dock. pexels)

JAKARTA - Apple has informed the Indian government that their local production targets will be disrupted if New Delhi follows the European Union and requires that the existing iPhone has a universal charging port. This was revealed in government documents showing that the US tech giant was lobbying for an exception or delay.

India wants to implement a European Union rule that will require smartphones to have a universal USB-C charging port, and has spoken to manufacturers about implementing these requirements in India in June 2025, six months after the deadline in the European Union. Although all manufacturers including Samsung agree with India's plans, Apple insists against it.

Apple has for years offered its unique lightning connector port on its iPhone. However, the European Union estimates that a one-charger solution could save about US$271 million (Rp4.2 trillion) for consumers, and India says this step will reduce electronic waste and help users.

In a closed meeting on November 28 chaired by India's IT ministry, Apple asked officials to release the existing iPhone model from the regulation. Apple warns that it will be difficult to achieve the production targets set in India's associated production incentive (PLI) scheme.

PLI is a key project of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and offers fiscal incentives to electronics manufacturers in India for new investments and mobile phone sales increasing every year. This has been widely used by Apple suppliers like Foxconn to expand iPhone production in the country.

"If regulations were applied to previous mobile models, they (Apple) would not be able to achieve the PLI target", reads an excerpt from Apple executive in the field of regulatory and product compliance when opposing the regulation.

Apple did not predict the impact of production at the meeting, and India's IT Ministry decided to review its requests and make further decisions according to two sources.

Apple, and India's IT Ministry, did not respond to requests for comment from the media.

India is considered the next growth ground for Apple after China. Apple's famous analyst Ming-Chi Kuo estimates that the iPhone production 12-14% will come from India in 2023, where the figure is expected to rise by 25% next year.

In terms of market share, Apple accounts for 6% of India's rapidly growing smartphone market, compared to just about 2% four years ago. Apple's suppliers have expanded their facilities and created most of India's iPhone 12, 13, 14, and 15 models for local and export sales, Counterpoint Research estimates.

Only the iPhone 15 has a new universal charging port. Apple told Indian officials at the meeting that "the previous product design was irreversible."

"Consumers in the Indian market prefer to buy older iPhone models that usually get cheaper with new launches, and India's push for general chargers on older models can hit Apple's targets," said Prabhu Ram, Head of Industry Intelligence Group at CyberMedia Research.

"Apple's luck in India is mainly related to previous generations of iPhones," he said.

EU charging port rules take effect in December 2024, and India wants compliance by June 2025.

Apple told officials it could comply with the timeframe if existing models were excluded from the rules, but would take 18 months.

"The natural transition period should be given... taking into account the product design timeline," reads an excerpt from Apple executives.