Following EU’s ruling to require all mobile device manufacturers to adopt USB-C as the charging port standard from 2024, India has followed suit by making it compulsory for all smartphones and device manufacturers to adopt the Type-C standard as the default charging port by March 2025.
The latest ruling delivers a major blow to Apple which is the last remaining smartphone maker to use a proprietary port for charging. India is a huge market with a population of about 1.4 billion versus approximately 447 million people in the European Union. According to a report, the Indian government has set the 2025 deadline after consulting with industry stakeholders about standards while considering global supply chain constraints and the availability of products.
In a separate report, it was mentioned that India is likely to make some exemptions for selected products such as feature phones, wearables and headphones. It claimed that some stakeholders have warned that costs could increase if USB Type-C is made mandatory for certain products. An official said that, unlike the EU, there’s a 250 million-strong market for feature phones in India that uses non-USB Type-C ports and chargers. India is also said to be the world’s largest market for wearables and headphones, which is different from developed markets like the EU where a huge majority of consumers have adopted smartphones.
The USB-C ruling is also applicable to laptops as well. However, India is said to have given additional time of two years as the move would require a major redesign for laptops that will affect manufacturers on a large scale.
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