First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.
OK, so a quote most readily associated (falsely) with freedom fighter Mahatma Gandhi isn’t a perfect fit to describe Apple’s decision to ditch the charger with the iPhone 12. But it certainly seems weirdly appropriate here.
Apple generated masses of negative headlines when it stopped including a wall charger and earbuds with the the iPhone 12 and every other handset sold through the Apple Store. The company said it made the decision for sustainability reasons. Apple’s rivals lined up at the front of the queue to mock Cupertino’s move. Samsung did it in the form of a Facebook post — which it later deleted when it decided to follow suit and ditch these components from its new Galaxy handset.
Now Huawei is supposedly considering following in Apple’s footsteps, too. As far as I’m aware, Huawei hasn’t explicitly mocked Apple over this decision. (Although, ironically, the company teased Apple in the past for failing to take risks and do something new.) However, Huawei recently sent out a survey regarding new wireless headphones asking if people consider a charging cable to be “necessary” to include in the box. If it concludes that this is not the case, there’s a chance the same philosophy gets applied to other devices. That could include its smartphones.
Huawei vs. Apple
Huawei continues to challenge Apple’s leading role in the smartphone and tablet markets. In 2018, Huawei stole Apple’s title as the world’s second-largest smartphone-maker. This was based on number of smartphones shipped, not value of the company or profits made. Huawei also overtook Apple as China’s No. 1 tablet manufacturer.
Still, if this Huawei survey is not a total coincidence (and it probably isn’t), this is one more example of where Apple truly leads: in dictating the direction of the consumer electronics market. Whether it’s ditching the floppy disk drive with the first iMac, or losing the headphone jack with the iPhone 7, everyone loves to poke fun at Apple when it decides to jettison a certain component or technology. And then they not-so-subtly copy Apple as soon as it becomes clear that Cupertino made the right call!
What do you think of Apple’s decision to ditch the wall adapter with new iPhones? Let us know in the comments below.
Source: Gizmochina
