Type-C charger: industry-approved Type-C chargers for smartphones, tablets and laptops | Tech Reddy

Mobile device manufacturers and associations representing technology companies in India have agreed to adopt USB Type-C as the standard charging port for electronic products such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, government officials said on Wednesday.

Officials did not give a timeline for the decision’s implementation, but an industry executive, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the change would take place once it is implemented in the European Union.

A consensus was reached at the meeting of the inter-ministerial working group held on the same day. The meeting was chaired by Rohit Kumar Singh, Secretary, Consumer Affairs Department.

At the meeting, industry stakeholders said they will gradually implement USB Type-C charging ports on their devices.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce (Ficci), Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), IIT-BHU and executives of smartphone companies like Samsung and Apple and hardware suppliers like HP and Dell. and Lenovo.

According to government officials, the consumer affairs department said at the meeting that a small group would be formed to examine the feasibility of unified charging ports for wearables such as headphones and smartwatches.

While more than 98% of Android smartphones use USB Type-C as their charging port, Apple iPhones rely on the proprietary Lightning port.

According to an industry executive, Apple is not opposed to moving to USB Type-C as a common standard.

ET’s email query to Apple went unanswered by press time.

The government has called a meeting with industry stakeholders and associations on August 18 to ask them to introduce a common charging standard for mobile devices to reduce e-waste and make it easier for consumers to charge electronic devices.

On June 7, the EU agreed to use the USB Type-C charging standard for all mobile devices, including smartphones, tablets and cameras, by 2024. Laptop makers are given time until 2026.

USB Type-C is a cable and port standard established by the USB Implementers Forum, a global non-profit organization created to promote and support universal serial bus specifications.

USB Type-C cables are noted for their symmetrical connector, which unlike previous iterations can plug in either direction.