Recently, European Union and Brazil have taken measures to implement a common charger for electronic devices. Eliminating the use of Lightning port from Apple and micro USB in favour of Type C USB.
Reports suggest that India will also follow the path and is exploring options to make one charger and port for all devices. And like with EU, the port in choice would be USB Type C as it is one of the most popular among devices.
The Government of India has called for a meeting on August 17 on the matter with various smartphone makers and stakeholders.
In European Union, the law enforcing one charger for all devices comes into effect in 2024. And all devices, including phones, Bluetooth earphones, laptops, tablets and more are required to use a USB Type C charging port for charging. Brazil is reported to mandate the change from July 2024.
"If companies can serve in Europe and the US, why cannot they do it in India? Portable electronic devices like smartphones and tablets should have a common charger," a government official gave a statement to PTI.
The official also mentioned that if such a rule comes into force in the EU, the brands might start dumping the products in India. That might be the main reason why this option is also explored by the Government of India. So we can expect the next rules to be in sync with the EU, i.e. 2024.
Apple to be impacted the most
Every other smartphone manufacturer other than Apple has moved on to USB Type C for their products. Most brands use micro-USB for budget smartphones and budget audio products. These brands will be forced to use USB Type C for their budget products too.
But the brand that is going to get impacted the most is Apple. With mounting pressure from the EU, Brazil and now India, Apple might be switching from its outdated proprietary lighting ports to USB Type-C as soon as with the iPhone 14 series of phones.
USB Type-C isn't a new thing to Apple. It has already used the Type-C port in iPads and Macbooks. So Apple can switch to a Type-C port if it wants to. But has refrained from doing so because using proprietary charging ports and cables is more profitable. It's going to change with the one-charger-for-all rule. And with this new rule, companies like Apple won't be able to dump its old stock in India.
