‘Sleazyly shameless’ trend to penetrate this year’s smartphone industry

Starting with Apple, there is a movement to exclude chargers in the smartphone industry. Samsung Electronics and Xiaomi, who were mocking Apple, also announced or showed signs of joining the ranks except for chargers. They insist on environmental protection for the purpose of excluding chargers, but an analysis is raised that it is a measure to lower costs and increase accessory sales.

According to the industry on the 1st, major smartphone manufacturers such as Samsung Electronics, Apple, Huawei, and Xiaomi are considering excluding or excluding charger adapters from new components.

Apple was the first to declare the charger excluded. Apple is providing only a charging cable, excluding the charger adapter and earphones from the iPhone 12 components introduced in October.

Apple is in a position that many consumers already have charger adapters, so providing an adapter every time a new smartphone is released is wasteful and not right in terms of environmental protection. “There are more than 2 billion Apple power adapters in the world,” said Lisa Jackson, vice president of Apple’s environmental, policy and social initiatives.

When Apple removed the charger from the iPhone 12 component, the rivals continued to mock.

Immediately after Apple announced, Xiaomi wrote on the official Twitter, “Don’t worry,” and “We didn’t pull anything out of the Mi 10T Pro box.” I also attached a video containing the charger adapter to the Mi 10T box.

Samsung Electronics also posted a post on its North American Facebook account, saying, “Galaxy supports from chargers to the best cameras and batteries, performance, memory, and even a refresh rate of 120 hertz (Hz).”

Whenever I make fun of… Smartphone industry moving except chargers according to Apple

Recently, smartphone manufacturers are overturning their stance on excluding chargers. It followed Apple to reduce components.

Xiaomi announced on the 28th of last month that it will exclude charger adapters from an online event to unveil the new smartphone Mi11.

Xiaomi has released a version with and without a charger. The prices for both versions are the same. Xiaomi CEO Leijun wrote on his Weibo, “If you have an extra high-speed charger, you should order the standard version to support environmental protection.”

There are also voices of criticism about Xiaomi’s move to come and go. IT media phone Arena pointed out that “Xiaomi will unabashedly remove the charger, just two months after it said it wasn’t pulling anything out of the box.”

Samsung Electronics is also expected to jump into the ranks without chargers. There is a possibility that Samsung Electronics will exclude chargers and earphones from basic smartphone components depending on the country of release through foreign media.

It is known that Samsung Electronics will not provide chargers and earphones while obtaining approval for the release of the Galaxy S21 to Anatel, an information communication certification body in Brazil. It is still unclear whether Samsung Electronics will actually exclude chargers and earphones from basic components in Brazil, and whether the same policy will apply in Korea.

However, the possibility of excluding chargers has been steadily mentioned as Samsung Electronics deleted Facebook posts that criticized Apple. Fone Arena said, “Samsung is expected to sell its flagship smartphone without a charger adapter. To prepare for this, we are erasing social network service (SNS) posts that mock Apple.”

This is not the first time that Samsung Electronics deleted it while criticizing Apple’s policy.

When Apple removed the earphone jack from the iPhone X in 2017, Samsung Electronics posted an advertisement criticizing Apple on YouTube when it released its rival Galaxy Note 9 the following year.

However, the sequel, the Galaxy Note 10, removed the earphone jack, and criticized Apple on YouTube.

IT media The Verge pointed out that it is “awkward marketing” when Samsung Electronics is aiming at Apple in a situation where it is expected to remove the charger from the Galaxy S21. “It’s not necessarily bad for Samsung Electronics to do the same thing as Apple,” The Verge said. “It’s not cool to post a comment that the charger was included at the time it was expected to remove the charger.”

Huawei is also moving to exclude chargers.

In a recent consumer survey, Huawei asked about the effect of removing the charging cable from the wireless headset component on purchase or not. The industry predicts that Huawei included a charging cable in its latest headphone Freebuzz Studio component, but this survey suggests that it may remove the charging cable in future products.

There are also observations that the product line excluding chargers will be expanded to smartphones. Gizmo China said, “After the survey in early 2020, Apple has also decided not to provide charger adapters and earphones in the iPhone 12,” and said, “Huawei can follow in Apple’s footsteps.”

Isn’t the real purpose environmental protection?… It seems to be aiming for cost reduction and accessory sales effect

Apple and Xiaomi, which have decided to exclude the charger, are advocating environmental protection.

Apple said the component reduction measures could reduce resource mining and use and carbon emissions. It also explained that the miniaturization and weight reduction of packaging allows 70% more boxes to be loaded on the cargo pallet during product transportation. It also suggested specific figures, saying that 2 million tons of carbon emissions can be reduced annually by reducing components.

Xiaomi also mentioned the purpose of protecting the environment several times while delivering the Mi 11’s policy to exclude chargers.

Consumers tilt their heads. I doubt that the real purpose is cost reduction than environmental protection.

While reducing the iPhone 12 components, Apple has priced some models higher than the previous ones. The base model of the iPhone 12 is $799 for 64GB, which is $100 more than the factory price when the iPhone 11 was released.

Xiaomi priced the same price for the version without the charger and the included version, but there is an opinion that the charger cost was distributed between the two versions rather than giving the charger free.

If the charger adapter cost is assumed to be 3,000 won and applied to 200 million units of iPhone’s annual sales, Apple can save about 600 billion won a year. As Apple explained, smaller packaging and more loads can reduce transportation costs. Samsung Electronics and Xiaomi also sell 250 million and 150 million smartphones each year, resulting in significant cost savings.

There is also an analysis that it is a measure to offset the increased cost as 5G-related parts are introduced into smartphones. The iPhone 12 is Apple’s first 5G phone. The Verge said, “The cost of the iPhone 12 is more expensive than the iPhone 11 because the components that support 5G are complex and costly.” “Apple will save money in other ways such as chargers and earphones other than smartphones.” Explained.

There is also an aspect that allows smartphone makers to sell more accessories except for chargers.

Smartphone manufacturers say that many consumers have charger adapters, but even if only some of the people who purchase new products purchase additional charging-related products, it leads to significant sales.

Apple released the wireless charger MacSafe along with the iPhone 12. In the form of a wireless charging pad, MaxSafe is used by attaching the pad to the rear without plugging the cable terminal into the smartphone. You can use it by attaching it directly to the smartphone body, or it can be charged even with the case on. Apple is selling the MaxSafe charger for 55,000 won and the MaxSafe exclusive case for 59,000 won to 75,000 won.

In addition, Apple is selling a 20 watt (W) charger adapter for 25,000 won. Samsung Electronics is also selling 25W class adapters and 45W class adapters for 31,000 won and 40,000 won, respectively.

Assuming that 10 million people, or 5% of the 200 million iPhone buyers per year on an Apple basis, buy a MaxSafe charger, an additional income of 550 billion won is generated. Samsung Electronics can also generate sales of around 400 billion won by selling adapters in this way.

Some point out that the purchase of accessories by consumers will raise the carbon emissions reduced by the exclusion of chargers. The Verge said, “If consumers purchase charging-related accessories, more packaging waste and carbon will be emitted by separate delivery.” “Excluding chargers saves companies money, but some environmental benefits are consumers who purchase chargers separately. It can be offset by this.”