For some time, the EU has been trying to formulate a unified charger production standard. It is reported that the EU plans to put forward relevant bills on the 23rd. If the bill is passed, it may force apple to abandon its current charging interface model, which will be a big blow to apple.
According to Reuters, citing sources familiar with the matter, the EU will put forward a legislative proposal on Thursday to require electronic products such as mobile phones, tablets and headphones to use a unified charging interface by 2024. The person familiar with the matter also said that the EU hopes to decouple the sales of electronic devices from chargers.
According to a research report released by the European Union in December 2019, in 2018 of the previous year, half of all mobile phones sold in 28 EU countries used USB micro-b interface, 29% used usb-c interface and 21% used the so-called "lightning" interface. These are mainly Apple phones, while the other two are mainly Android phones.
According to Samsung's official website, usb-c is newer than USB micro-b. the main difference in use is whether the interface needs to be faceted. All new models of the brand basically use usb-c charging ports. In addition, Huawei, Xiaomi and other brands also mostly use this type.
One of the main reasons why the EU wants to unify the charging interface type is for environmental protection. The European Parliament pointed out that the old charger produces more than 51000 tons of e-waste every year. However, to unify the charging interface type, it may touch Apple's "cheese".
According to the latest financial report released by apple, the net sales of "wearable devices, home and accessories", including chargers, in the three months ended June 26 this year was $8.775 billion, an increase of about 36% compared with the same period last year. Apple has also been opposed to the proposal of a unified charging interface, believing that this is detrimental to industry innovation. However, the EU's continuous promotion of relevant legislation has also led apple to prepare countermeasures, such as selling relevant adapters.
Industry insiders speculate that once the EU successfully legislates, the design of Apple's new mobile phone may also be affected. At present, the specific types required by the EU have not been officially announced. The market is expected to be a more advanced usb-c interface. Given that most Android mobile phone brands are upgrading independently, the impact is relatively small, and the providers of third-party standard chargers may benefit from it. For some consumers, it is also possible to save money on chargers.