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  • O2's HTC One X+ owners: no charger, no problem

O2's HTC One X+ owners: no charger, no problem

Posted: , by Alan F.

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O2's HTC One X+ owners: no charger, no problem
Last fall, when O2 sold the HTC One X+ in the U.K., it did so without a wall charger. That was not as harsh a move as you might think considering that studies showed that 70% of the carrier's customers already had a charger that would work with the device. The practice continues to this day and to be sure, the phone does come with the USB to micro USB cable which means that buyers of the phone lack only the actual prongs that fit into the wall outlet. And if someone buying the phone wants to buy one, U2 will sell the missing part at cost.

O2 sold the HTC One X+ in the U.K. without a charger

O2 sold the HTC One X+ in the U.K. without a charger

While the studies would have you estimate that 30% of those buying the HTC One X+ from O2 would opt to purchase the charger, only 18% did. If you can do simple math, 82% purchased the unit without the charger which apparently has given O2 enough confidence to say that it will eliminate chargers from the boxes of all new phones sold starting in 2015. With 30 million new phones sold annually in the U.K., if the results of this test are repeated, it will save 24 million chargers from sitting around in a desk drawer.

O2's research shows that 100 million unused chargers currently are collecting dust in the U.K., either from an old phone or a duplicate of an existing charger. Consider that these weigh 18,700 tonnes, or the equivalent of 1,000 London buses. It also amounts to 124,274 miles of copper wire and plastic covering, enough to wrap around the O2 Arena 200,000 times. The 100 million chargers would also equal the amount of landfill needed to fill four Olympic-sized swimming pools.

If this program ever migrated to the U.S., would the results be as successful as those experienced by O2 with its trial?

"More than four-in-five of our smartphone customers who have participated in the trial are willing to buy a new phone from us and to use an existing charging device to attach it to the mains. The results of the trial demonstrate a clear willingness among consumers to consider and respond to the environmental argument for taking a phone charger-free. I now hope that as a result of this study the rest of the industry will now consider joining us in our campaign to take chargers out of the box for good."-Ronan Dunne, CEO O2

source: O2 via Pocketlint via Engadget

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1. Astro551 posted on 18 Jan 2013, 07:45 5

yay more environment friends!

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2. papss posted on 18 Jan 2013, 07:54 2

I'm a tech guy but the environment needs consideration

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3. lallolu posted on 18 Jan 2013, 07:56 3

Good.

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4. duwiegeneral posted on 18 Jan 2013, 08:08 3

great move!!

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5. buccob posted on 18 Jan 2013, 09:12 2

I didn't know "U2" was also in the electronic chargers business, beside music.

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10. Droiddoes posted on 18 Jan 2013, 14:03 2

U2 makes music? Who knew.

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6. xtremesv posted on 18 Jan 2013, 09:50 4

Sure I have 2 chargers collecting dust in my room but none of those could charge my Galaxy S III quick enough, I think they only put out 0.6 amp. So I assume future smartphones with larger batteries will require higher capacity chargers to keep charging time within a reasonable parameter, so for me, O2 new charger business is not good for consumers.

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7. NickPeters posted on 18 Jan 2013, 10:46 5

OK, so, you MIGHT be right... but - hey! Think of the environment!

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8. xtremesv posted on 18 Jan 2013, 11:08 3

My point is simple: nowadays charges also become obsolete and inefficient overtime. My complaint is that this company doesn't do this for the environment but to get a couple of bucks out their customers.

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14. rallyguy posted on 18 Jan 2013, 21:53 1

I Agree, not all chargers are the same, and I'm sure the majority of people don't realize that.

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9. amiroo posted on 18 Jan 2013, 12:47 3

sure its very interesting.

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11. sats.mine2k4 posted on 18 Jan 2013, 16:11 4

Environmental friends... ok fine Good motive!!! No comments for me
How much did each customer save? and how much did O2 profit from not giving an included charger? I just want to confirm your not showing/using environmental needs to boost your profits...

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12. cripton805 posted on 18 Jan 2013, 16:17 1

I was thinking the same thing.

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13. cripton805 posted on 18 Jan 2013, 16:19 2

18% is still a large number. What if those 18% feel ripped off. I don't have any extra chargers because I usually sell my phone second hand every couple of months.

I think this is a bad idea for HTC. They are suffering as it is. This little extra they don't offer could push another sale to another phone.

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15. belovedson posted on 19 Jan 2013, 03:23

if your not going to offer a charger lower the dang prices otherwise piss off htc

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