The European Union is planning to introduce a universal charger for smartphones all over the member states. The move is with the assumption that a uniform charger will reduce electronic waste as people will use the existing chargers when buying a new smartphone rather than purchasing new ones according to the compatibility.
But the smartphone giant Apple has already shown their disagreement to this move. According to Apple, a universal charger would slow down innovation and lead to more pollution.
“We remain concerned that strict regulation mandating just one type of connector stifles innovation rather than encouraging it, which in turn will harm consumers in Europe and around the world,” the firm told the BBC.
The EU move is to set USB-C as the standard universal charger all over the member states, once approved by the members and European Parliament.
The proposed rules will apply to:
- smartphones
- tablets
- cameras
- headphones
- portable speakers
- handheld video game consoles
“European consumers have been frustrated long enough about incompatible chargers piling up in their drawers,” “We gave industry plenty of time to come up with their own solutions, now time is ripe for legislative action for a common charger,” EU executive vice president Margrethe Vestager in a statement.
Currently in the EU, Apple ‘Lightning’ handset chargers are widely used along with the USB-C and micro USB chargers in Android phones. Also USB-C chargers are gaining more popularity.
According to a research by the European Commission, disposed of and unused charging cables generate more than 11,000 tonnes of waste per year. In the Union, around 420 million mobile phones and other portable electronic devices were sold last year.
In 2009, there were more than 30 different chargers, whereas now most models stick to three – the USB-C, Lightning and USB micro-B.
Though Apple has shown strong disagreement, it will take years for this proposal to come into effect and the issue with Apple will be sorted out if they keep adding USB-C chargers in future- Ben Wood, an analyst at CCS Insight said
Additional reporting by the BBC.