Every new phone comes with a charger, right? Well, yeah. Unless you have a Galaxy S III that can be charged wirelessly or pick up one of the wireless charging kits on the market, a charger is to be expected when you purchase a new phone. Of course that is unless you’re HTC and O2 who look to switch things up a bit.
Later this year, HTC plans on launching a new phone with carrier 02 that will come without a charger. Before you call it a stupid idea, it does make some sense. The idea is that most users buying a new phone already have a charger at home. This will not only save materials being wasted, but will also save HTC some money in the process.
02 claims that 70 per cent of customers in the UK who purchase a new phone actually already have a relevant charger. However, what about the remaining 30 percent? Will they just have to pony up the extra cash for a charger or will they get one for free if they really need it? It’s looking like if you don’t have a charger, you’re just going to have to pay extra for it. Figures.
This could either be a really good idea and a step forward to reducing waste, or could be a really bad idea and further upset customers who are already plopping down a couple to a few hundred pounds on a new device, and now have to pay for something they used to get for free.