Despite mocking Apple for not including a charger with the iPhone, Samsung and Xiaomi are now expected to follow suit and remove the charging adapter from their upcoming smartphones.
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In addition to announcing 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 the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro, Xiaomi posted a video promoting the Mi 10T Pro on social media showing the unboxing of a charger, accompanied by the comment “Do not worry, we have nothing do not leave the box. “
Samsung also posted a picture of a charger with the text “Including your Galaxy” and the message:
Your #Galaxy will give you what you’re looking for. From the most basic as a charger, to the best camera, battery, performance, memory and even 120Hz screen.
Despite these social media posts clearly making the fun of Apple’s decision, Samsung now believes that the charger of the Galaxy S21, which will be launched on January 14, will be removed based on regulatory filing. It may now be more likely considering that Samsung has completely removed its “most basic as a charger” post from social media, as seen by HTTech.
Lei Jun, CEO of Xiaomi, has also now confirmed on Weibo that the company’s upcoming Mi 11 phone will not come with a charger due to environmental issues. Jun said that smartphone users already have a lot of chargers, so the inclusion of another in the Mi 11 will contribute to an unnecessary environmental burden:
Xiaomi Mi 11 has been officially introduced with brand new packaging, so light and thin.
Behind the thinness we made an important decision: in response to the call of technology and environmental protection, Xiaomi 11 canceled the embedded charger.
Today, everyone has many idle chargers, which is a burden for you as well as the environment. We are well aware that this decision may not be understood or even complained about. Is there a better solution between industry practice and environmental protection?
iPhones now ship without wired EarPods or a power adapter in the box, with only a Lightning-to-USB-C charging cable included. Once these accessories are removed, all new iPhones will now be shipped in a thinner box. Apple cites the benefits for the environment of not putting these accessories together anymore, noting that carbon emissions are reduced and mining and use of rare earth elements are avoided.
Since a major competitor no longer offers accessories such as the power adapter and EarPods, Samsung and Xiaomi can now believe that consumers are willing to buy accessories separately. Samsung and Xiaomi are already known to follow similar trends that Apple has set in the past. Samsung, for example, made fun of Apple for removing the headphone jack from the iPhone 7 in 2016 before reflecting on the decision and releasing the 2018 Galaxy A8 without a headphone jack.