India Is Considering EU-Style Charger Rules That Would Block Older iPhones From Sale
Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil, reporting for Reuters from New Delhi:
India wants to implement a European Union rule that will
require smartphones to have a universal USB-C charging port, and
has been in talks with manufacturers about introducing the
requirement in India by June 2025, six months after the deadline
in the EU. While all manufacturers including Samsung have agreed
to India’s plan, Apple is pushing back. […]
In a closed-door Nov. 28 meeting chaired by India’s IT ministry,
Apple asked officials to exempt existing iPhone models from the
rules, warning it will otherwise struggle to meet production
targets set under India’s production-linked incentive (PLI)
scheme, according to the meeting minutes seen by Reuters. […]
In terms of market share, Apple accounts for 6% of India’s booming
smartphone market, compared with just about 2% four years ago.
Apple suppliers have expanded their facilities and make most
iPhone 12, 13, 14 and 15 models in India for local sales and
exports, Counterpoint Research estimates. Only iPhone 15 has the
new universal charging port. Apple told Indian officials in the
meeting that the “design of the earlier products cannot be
changed,” the document showed.
Consumers in India’s price-conscious market prefer buying older
models of iPhones which typically become cheaper with new
launches, and India’s push for the common charger on older
models could hit Apple’s targets, said Prabhu Ram, head of the
Industry Intelligence Group at CyberMedia Research. “Apple’s
fortunes in India have primarily been tied to older generation
iPhones,” he said.
I was under the impression that the EU’s USB-C requirement will only apply to new devices, but maybe not? A plain reading of this EU press release suggests that all phones sold, starting in 2025, must have USB-C charging ports:
By the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in
the EU will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port.
From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to laptops.
That would mean, starting in January 2025, that the only iPhones available in the EU will be this year’s iPhones 15 and next year’s iPhones 16. A new fourth-generation iPhone SE with USB-C would give Apple a much-needed lower-priced model. The second-gen SE came in 2020; the current third-gen SE in 2022.
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Aditya Kalra and Munsif Vengattil, reporting for Reuters from New Delhi:
India wants to implement a European Union rule that will
require smartphones to have a universal USB-C charging port, and
has been in talks with manufacturers about introducing the
requirement in India by June 2025, six months after the deadline
in the EU. While all manufacturers including Samsung have agreed
to India’s plan, Apple is pushing back. […]
In a closed-door Nov. 28 meeting chaired by India’s IT ministry,
Apple asked officials to exempt existing iPhone models from the
rules, warning it will otherwise struggle to meet production
targets set under India’s production-linked incentive (PLI)
scheme, according to the meeting minutes seen by Reuters. […]
In terms of market share, Apple accounts for 6% of India’s booming
smartphone market, compared with just about 2% four years ago.
Apple suppliers have expanded their facilities and make most
iPhone 12, 13, 14 and 15 models in India for local sales and
exports, Counterpoint Research estimates. Only iPhone 15 has the
new universal charging port. Apple told Indian officials in the
meeting that the “design of the earlier products cannot be
changed,” the document showed.
Consumers in India’s price-conscious market prefer buying older
models of iPhones which typically become cheaper with new
launches, and India’s push for the common charger on older
models could hit Apple’s targets, said Prabhu Ram, head of the
Industry Intelligence Group at CyberMedia Research. “Apple’s
fortunes in India have primarily been tied to older generation
iPhones,” he said.
I was under the impression that the EU’s USB-C requirement will only apply to new devices, but maybe not? A plain reading of this EU press release suggests that all phones sold, starting in 2025, must have USB-C charging ports:
By the end of 2024, all mobile phones, tablets and cameras sold in
the EU will have to be equipped with a USB Type-C charging port.
From spring 2026, the obligation will extend to laptops.
That would mean, starting in January 2025, that the only iPhones available in the EU will be this year’s iPhones 15 and next year’s iPhones 16. A new fourth-generation iPhone SE with USB-C would give Apple a much-needed lower-priced model. The second-gen SE came in 2020; the current third-gen SE in 2022.