Chinese phone maker Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun has confirmed that his next Mi11 phone will not come with a charger, citing environmental concerns. While it’s already a legitimate argument against providing a second dog of plastic that looks like all the other chargers, Xiaomi joined some phone manufacturers who a few months ago mocked Apple Pal for not including charging with the iPhone 12.
June commented on the Chinese social media site Weibo that people have a lot of chargers that create an environmental burden, and so the company is canceling the charger for the Mi11.
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Apple Pal’s decision not to include chargers with the iPhone 12 was met with some ridicule, and competitors such as Samsung reminded consumers in an ad that charging bricks are “included with your Galaxy.” That Galaxy ad has apparently been deleted, however, rumors continue that Samsung will not include any charges with its upcoming Galaxy S21 phones.
Shortly after the iPhone 12 launched, Xiaomi tweeted that it had “left nothing out of the box” for its MI10T Pro, adding a short video clip showing the Mi10TB shows X with a charger. Perhaps the takeover here is that companies should keep the marketing team informed about future product decisions?
In fact, there is a strong environmental case for not including unnecessary chargers with new phones, especially if the chargers are the same as the dozens of people most people already have. But as phone makers continue to raise the price on their new devices, they seem to be looking for ways to somehow give consumers less – not a headphone jack, but a charging brick જેની one that was in the past.
Is the next step in handing out new phones to customers to finish the boxes and wrap them in bubbles, or in a paper bag? I believe we will find out.
