INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
The European Union (EU) is to study whether there is a need for more action to force the mobile industry to adopt a common charger that can
be used with any smartphoneEuropean policymakers have been keen for a single standard for more than a decade, citing significant amounts of
electronic waste caused by unused chargers and the inconvenience suffered by Android and iPhone users who need different cables for
different devices.It has expressed its view to the industry for almost a decade and in 2009 it appeared as though there was a breakthrough
when Nokia, Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Apple, agreed to use the MicroUSB standard for all new smartphones by 2011.EU chargerThe
aforementioned deal expired in 2012 and although much of the industry has since settled on the newer USB Type-C, Apple is still pushing its
proprietary Lightning standard, which it launched with the iPhone 5 in 2012, to this day
Lightning is now used in all models of iPhone and iPad, with Apple claiming the connector affords it more freedom of design in its
products.But the EU is frustrated at this lack of progress and has confirmed it will look into the matter to see if it needs to
would seem as though Apple would be most vulnerable to any such move and could be forced to adapt the designs of its new devices
The company has been approached for comment.
