Xiaomi follows in Apple’s footsteps, will ditch the charger in the Mi 11
When Apple announced and confirmed that its new iPhones would be shipping without a charger, many made fun of the company. This included Apple’s competitors such as Samsung and Xiaomi, who took the opportunity to mock the company for not including the accessory.
It turns out that this mockery was short-lived because according to Xiaomi’s CEO, Lei Jun, he has confirmed that the company’s upcoming Mi 11 series will not be shipping with a charger either. According to the CEO, he cites environmental reasons as to why the phone will not come with a charger, which is more or less the same reason Apple gave.
For those hearing about this for the first time, Apple claimed that not including the charger allowed the company to create smaller packaging for the iPhone. This in turn allowed the company to ship more units out at once, thus reducing the number of trips and reducing carbon emissions. It also means that less plastic will be used to make these chargers, which is great for the environment.
Many have expressed skepticism over these claims, especially since it means that it would essentially force some customers to purchase the chargers separately, netting companies like Apple more money in the process. Either way, it seems that this will be a new practice moving forwards, so we guess we’ll just have to get used to it.
Source: The Verge