It’s no secret that Apple is (really) not satisfied with the obligation to offer, like all other manufacturers of smartphonesUSB-C ports on its products in the European Union.
It should be noted that the entry into force of the measure is scheduled for the fall of 2024.
” think differently »… but in USB-C anyway
Vice-president in charge of global marketing at Apple, Greg Joswiak is not very happy with Apple’s obligation to adopt USB-C in the European Union by 2024. It must be said that the countdown is launched since the firm has only two years left, almost to the day, to comply with the new European standard on the subject. Approved in June 2022 by the European Commission, this development notably obliges Apple to provide iPhones with a USB-C port for recharging them instead of its traditional Lightning port.
However, if Greg Joswiak does not find this European decision to his liking, it is because it is first of all a big blow to Apple’s marketing strategy. Products with a clean design, but different from the norm in tech markets, is how Apple envisions marketing. For nearly a quarter of a century, the Apple has been communicating at all costs using an evocative slogan in this sense, ” think different “, which can literally be translated as “Think differently”. Without the Lightning, thousands of people will therefore charge their devices with the apple like their other friends via USB-C, a departure from the firm’s policy.
Will Apple standardize its production worldwide?
But where Greg Joswiak goes a bit further in his criticism is by accusing the European Commission and ” Europeans to be among those who dictate the temporality for European consumers “. Understand that the Cupertino company does not appreciate being imposed such a close deadline. Apple does not intend to challenge the measure, however, as Joswiak explains: ” obviously we [Apple, ndlr] will have to comply, we have no choice “. However, this first criticism leads to the second, which leads to accusing the European Commission of promoting waste and generating more electronic waste.
If Apple can still complain about not (no longer) being able to impose its own standards, the firm turns against the European Commission the main argument put forward by the latter for all smartphones to be recharged via USB-C. The goal is to standardize to waste less, not the other way around.
In any case, you can find Greg Joswiak’s 35-minute interview during the event Wall Street Journal Tech’ Live from wall street journal in the tweet above. If it is therefore a question of reducing waste, Apple could for example standardize its iPhones in USB-C on a global scale, even if it means shaking up its habits.
Source : The Verge
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