International Baccalaureate

Business Management Internal Assessment

Standard Level

To what extent is the removal of accessories from Apple’s iPhone boxes affected its

customer satisfaction and profitability?

2022/2023

Word Count: 1472

Table of Contents:

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………. 2

Methodology……………………………………………………………………………………... 2

Ansoff Matrix…………………………………………………………………………………….. 2

Product Development…………………………………………………………………….. 3

Perception Mapping……………………………………………………………………………… 4

Net Profit Margin………………………………………………………………………………… 8

Conclusion……………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

Supporting Documents………………………………………………………………………….. 11

Additional Sources……………………………………………………………………………… 12

Appendix………………………………………………………………………………………... 14

Supporting Document 1………………………………………………………………… 14

Supporting Document 2………………………………………………………………… 19

Supporting Document 3………………………………………………………………… 24

Supporting Document 4………………………………………………………………… 25

Supporting Document 5………………………………………………………………… 27

1
Introduction:

Apple Inc. is one of the most well-known tech companies in the world with a brand value

of $947.06 billion.1 It has a market capitalization of $2.294 trillion, which is the largest among

all other companies.2 Apple also has a market share of more than 50% in the U.S., hence

dominating that market.3 The company has decided to remove charging bricks and EarPods from

their iPhone boxes starting from the iPhone 12 series to go carbon neutral. However, customers

aren’t convinced by these claims because Apple’s net profit increased from $57.4 billion to $94.7

billion.4 This leads to the research question “To what extent has the removal of accessories from

Apple’s iPhone boxes affected its customer satisfaction and profitability?”

Methodology:

This commentary will disclose the removal of accessories from Apple’s iPhone boxes

and how these actions have affected customer satisfaction and the company’s profitability

through the use of the Ansoff Matrix, Perception Mapping, and Net Profit Margin. The

information analyzed will be based on Apple’s annual report and statistics to help in the methods

being employed.

Ansoff Matrix:

The Ansoff Matrix is an analytical tool that is used by companies to be able to improve

the company itself and improve its products.5

2
1
Statista Research Department, and Jun 17. “Apple: Brand Value 2022.” Statista, 17 June 2022,
www.statista.com/statistics/326052/apple-brand-value/.
2
“Companies Ranked by Market Cap.” CompaniesMarketCap.com - Companies Ranked by Market
Capitalization, companiesmarketcap.com/.
3
Lovejoy, Ben. “IPhone US Market Share Hits All-Time High, Overtaking Android; Dominates Global
Premium Sales.” 9to5Mac, 2 Sept. 2022, 9to5mac.com/2022/09/02/iphone-us-market-share/.
4
(Supporting Document 3) “Annual Reports on Form 10-K.” Apple Inc., 25 Sept. 2021.
5
Peterdy, Kyle. “Ansoff Matrix.” Corporate Finance Institute, 24 Nov. 2022,
corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/ansoff-matrix/.
Product Development:

Product Development is risky and involves selling a new product in an existing market.6

Apple removed the accessories from its iPhone boxes to help reach its goals faster and achieves

higher sales revenue and profits.7 The company stated that more than 2 billion power adaptors

were owned by their customers, which was their reason for removing the charging bricks.

However, Apple has developed its chargers from 5W, which had a USB-A power adaptor to

20W which has a USB-C lightning adaptor. Many customers still have 5W chargers that charge

new iPhones at a very slow rate; therefore, they are forced to buy new 20W chargers. This would

increase carbon emissions because these new chargers would be shipped in separate boxes,8

which contradicts the company’s aim to go carbon neutral and lead to customer dissatisfaction.

Additionally, Apple wanted its customers to transfer from using wired charging to wireless

charging, hence, it introduced the new MagSafe on 13 October 2020 a wireless charger in the

same period that Apple removed the charging bricks from their iPhone boxes.9

Moreover, customers were frustrated that EarPods were removed from iPhone boxes.

However, most customers already own EarPods from iPhones they bought in the past.

Furthermore, Apple wanted to deviate customers towards buying AirPods, which are the same as

EarPods but completely wireless. Therefore, the removal of EarPods resulted in an annual

3
6
“2023 Business Management SL.” Kognity, app.kognity.com/study/app/2023-business-management-
sl/sid-92-cid-144381/overview/.
7
(Supporting Document 1) Darryl. “Has Apple Set the Right Trend by Removing Accessories from the
Box?” IGeeksBlog, 9 Sept. 2022, www.igeeksblog.com/apple-removing-accessories-from-box/.
8
(Supporting Document 2) le Roux, Jano. “Who Else Wants Apple to Put Back the Damn Charger in Your
Iphone Box?” Medium, The Startup, 7 Sept. 2022, medium.com/swlh/who-else-wants-apple-to-
put-back-the-damn-charger-in-your-iphone-box-b9d4cfa62b53.
9
(Supporting Document 1) Darryl. “Has Apple Set the Right Trend by Removing Accessories from the
Box?” IGeeksBlog, 9 Sept. 2022, www.igeeksblog.com/apple-removing-accessories-from-box/.
growth of 20% in the TWS (True Wireless Stereo) market from Q4 2020 to Q4 202110, and

increased AirPods sales revenue from $10.1 billion in 2020 to $12.1 billion in 2021.11

Additionally, most good android phones are more expensive than iPhones12, such as the Samsung

Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon), which is $1199, is more expensive than the iPhone 14 Pro Max,

which is $1099.13 Hence, the company created a problem and provided a solution to this problem

through its newly launched AirPods.

The company benefited from product development because it was successful in making

its customers buy new chargers and AirPods, hence increasing its revenue and profitability.

However, a limitation of this tool is that Apple won’t be able to determine the profits of their

new product, therefore not knowing if this new product will be profitable or not.

Perception Mapping:

4
10
(Supporting Document 5) “TWS Shipments Exceed 100 Million in Q4 2021.” Canalys Newsroom, 9 Mar.
2022, www.canalys.com/newsroom/worldwide-tws-shipments-Q4-2021.
11
Ferjan, Matija. “Airpods Facts 2023: Airpods Revenue, Release Date, Units Sold.” HeadphonesAddict,
19 Aug. 2022, headphonesaddict.com/airpods-facts-revenue/.
12
Why Do People Buy IPhones If They Don't Even Include Chargers and Headphones in the Box?” Quora,
29 Oct. 2020, www.quora.com/Why-do-people-buy-iPhones-if-they-dont-even-include-chargers-
and-headphones-in-the-box.
13
“Smartphone Rankings.” DXOMARK, www.dxomark.com/smartphones/.
 Figure 1: Perception map on 9 different smartphone brands (based on the latest three phones

released by each brand) according to “DXOMARK”.14

The perception map above was based on the testing of the phones and reviews according

to users.15 Using the three latest phones released by each phone brand in the perception map

according to “DXOMARK”, the average quality rating and the average price are stated in the

Table below

5
14
“Smartphone Rankings.” DXOMARK, www.dxomark.com/smartphones/.
15
“Smartphone Rankings.” DXOMARK, www.dxomark.com/smartphones/.
 Table 1: Average Quality Rating and Average Price for Brands in Perception Map

Phone Brand Latest three phones Average Quality Average Price

released by this Rating (According to the

brand (This includes latest three phones

camera, selfie, released)

audio, display, and

battery)

Apple (iPhone 14 Pro Max, 139.86 $999

iPhone 14 Pro, iPhone

14 Plus)

Oppo (Reno8 Pro 5G, Reno8 111.82 $532.33

5G, and Oppo A57)

Samsung (Galaxy Z Fold 4, 116 $1032.33

Galaxy Z Flip4, and

A53 5G)

ZTE (The two phones 85 $599

found in

“DXOMARK” are

Axon 30 Ultra and

Axon 20 5G)

Huawei (Mate 50 Pro, P50 Pro, 138.2 $1189.67

and Mate 40 Pro +)

6
 Sony (Xperia 5 IV, Xperia 110.89 $1032.33

10 IV, and Xperia 1

IV)

Nokia (The two phones 84 $524

found in

“DXOMARK” are 8.3

5G and 7.2)

Realme (9i 5G, GT 2 Pro, and 113 $454

GT Neo 3)

Xiaomi (12S Ultra, 12T Pro, 126 $768.67

and 12T)

According to the perception map graph and Table 1 figures, even though Apple

customers were dissatisfied with the decision of removing accessories from iPhone boxes,

customers choose Apple over its competitors because Apple phones present the highest quality

among its competitors, even higher than Huawei and Samsung. Furthermore, as stated in the

Ansoff Matrix, Apple’s average prices are relatively lower compared with its competitors. To

add on, most of Apple’s competitors are now shipping their phones without chargers like Apple,

hence following Apple’s footsteps as Samsung, Xiaomi, Oppo, and Huawei.16 17 18 19

7
16
Udin, Efe, et al. “Samsung Will Not Include a Charger in the Box of The Galaxy a Series.” Gizchina.com,
7 Mar. 2022, www.gizchina.com/2022/03/07/samsung-will-not-include-a-charger-in-the-box-of-
the-galaxy-a-series/.
17
Lancaster, Marco, et al. “Huawei Will Stop Supplying Its Smartphones with a Charger in the Box.”
Gizchina.com, 13 Apr. 2021, www.gizchina.com/2021/04/13/huawei-will-stop-supplying-its-
smartphones-with-a-charger-in-the-box/.
18
Uche, Onyebuchi. “Xiaomi Redmi Phones to Ship without Chargers in the Box.” AdimorahBlog, 26 Aug.
2022, adimorahblog.com/redmi-phones-to-ship-without-chargers-in-the-box/.
19
Krishna, Sai. “Oppo Phone Charger Will Not Come in the Box for Some Models from next Year.”
91mobiles.Com |, 2 Sept. 2022, www.91mobiles.com/hub/oppo-phone-charger-not-in-the-box-
models-next-year/.
 The benefit of using this perception map is that it shows each company’s position in

terms of price and quality among its competitors. However, the limitations of this method are

that it doesn’t show the level of competition, production capacity, and brand image.

Net Profit Margin:

Net profit margin is a financial ratio used to calculate the net profit over the total sales

revenue, calculated as a percentage.20

Net Profit After Interest ∧Tax

Net Profit Margin= ×100
Sales Revenue

Using Apple’s annual report, Apple’s net profit margin will be calculated for the year

ending September 26, 2020, which is before removing the charging bricks from iPhone boxes,

and for the year ending September 25, 2021, which is after removing the charging bricks from

iPhone boxes and compare them.21

Apple’s Net Profit Margin for the Year Ending September 26, 2020 (before removing the

charging bricks):

57,411,000,000
×100=20.91 %
274,515,000,000

People’s Net Profit Margin for the Year Ending September 25, 2021 (after removing the

charging bricks):

94,680,000,000
×100=25.88 %
365,817,000,000

8
20
CFI Team. “Net Profit Margin.” Corporate Finance Institute, 26 Nov. 2022,
corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/net-profit-margin-formula/.
21
(Supporting Document 3) “Annual Reports on Form 10-K.” Apple Inc., 25 Sept. 2021.
 According to the calculated results, it is clearly shown that in 2021 Apple increased its

profits by 4.9% compared with its profit in 2020, hence showing that Apple’s real reason for

removing the accessories from their iPhone boxes is to increase their profits. It is even proven

that Apple has saved about $6.5 billion from removing accessories, and this value might be

between $10-$15 billion if the shipment costs and packaging raw materials are factored in. 22

Furthermore, Apple earned $12.1 billion from selling Air Pods in 2021 increased from $10.1

billion in 2020. Overall, Apple’s profits increased from $57.4 billion in 2020 to $94.7 billion in

202123 because iPhone sales increased from 196.9 million iPhones in 2020 to 242 million

iPhones in 2021.24 Thus, customer’s dissatisfaction with apple’s decision of removing

accessories didn’t impact company’s profitability.25 However, it increased its sales and profits

which reveals that customers still prefer iPhones over other brand phones due to their high

quality and relatively lower price among its competitors.

The benefit of using this method is that Apple can determine how profitable the company

is, hence deciding whether they need to improve in some parts of the business or if are they

satisfied with their profits. However, this method won’t show what areas inside the business need

to be strengthened if the company isn’t profiting.

9
22
(Supporting Document 2) le Roux, Jano. “Who Else Wants Apple to Put Back the Damn Charger in Your
Iphone Box?” Medium, The Startup, 7 Sept. 2022, medium.com/swlh/who-else-wants-apple-to-
put-back-the-damn-charger-in-your-iphone-box-b9d4cfa62b53.
23
(Supporting Document 3) “Annual Reports on Form 10-K.” Apple Inc., 25 Sept. 2021
24
Curry, David. “Apple Statistics (2022).” Business of Apps, 28 Oct. 2022,
www.businessofapps.com/data/apple-statistics.
25
(Supporting Document 2) le Roux, Jano. “Who Else Wants Apple to Put Back the Damn Charger in Your
Iphone Box?” Medium, The Startup, 7 Sept. 2022, medium.com/swlh/who-else-wants-apple-to-
put-back-the-damn-charger-in-your-iphone-box-b9d4cfa62b53.
Conclusion:

To conclude, customers overall were not satisfied with the decision Apple took because they

believe that Apple mainly removed accessories from their iPhone boxes to cut costs and increase

profits. This is shown in Product Development, where Apple has developed its charge from 5W

to a 20W charger that was removed from the iPhone box, and also launched the AirPods, a

completely wireless version of the EarPods that were also removed from iPhone boxes. Even

though Apple has received negative feedback on their removal of accessories from iPhone boxes,

the real reason why customers choose iPhones over other phone brands from the Perception Map

is that Apple had the highest phone quality, and its average price was lower than some of its

competitors. Another reason is that most phone brands nowadays sell their phones without

chargers in their phone boxes like Apple. To add on, it was shown that Apple’s net profit margin

increased after removing the charging bricks, which illustrates that Apple’s removal of the

charging bricks from their iPhone boxes increased their revenue, hence increasing their profits

and Apple’s customers still prefer buying Apple iPhones over other brand phones.

9
22
(Supporting Document 2) le Roux, Jano. “Who Else Wants Apple to Put Back the Damn Charger in Your
Iphone Box?” Medium, The Startup, 7 Sept. 2022, medium.com/swlh/who-else-wants-apple-to-
put-back-the-damn-charger-in-your-iphone-box-b9d4cfa62b53.
23
(Supporting Document 3) “Annual Reports on Form 10-K.” Apple Inc., 25 Sept. 2021
24
Curry, David. “Apple Statistics (2022).” Business of Apps, 28 Oct. 2022,
www.businessofapps.com/data/apple-statistics.
25
(Supporting Document 2) le Roux, Jano. “Who Else Wants Apple to Put Back the Damn Charger in Your
Iphone Box?” Medium, The Startup, 7 Sept. 2022, medium.com/swlh/who-else-wants-apple-to-
put-back-the-damn-charger-in-your-iphone-box-b9d4cfa62b53.
 Bibliography

Supporting Documents:

Darryl. “Has Apple Set the Right Trend by Removing Accessories from the Box?” IGeeksBlog, 9

Sept. 2022, www.igeeksblog.com/apple-removing-accessories-from-box/.

le Roux, Jano. “Who Else Wants Apple to Put Back the Damn Charger in Your iPhone Box?”

Medium, The Startup, 7 Sept. 2022, medium.com/swlh/who-else-wants-apple-to-put-back-

the-damn-charger-in-your-iphone-box-b9d4cfa62b53.

“Annual Reports on Form 10-K.” Apple Inc., 25 Sept. 2021.

Curry, David. “Apple Statistics (2022).” Business of Apps, 28 Oct. 2022,

www.businessofapps.com/data/apple-statistics/.

“TWS Shipments Exceed 100 Million in Q4 2021.” Canalys Newsroom, 9 Mar. 2022,

www.canalys.com/newsroom/worldwide-tws-shipments-Q4-2021.

10
Additional Sources:

Statista Research Department, and Jun 17. “Apple: Brand Value 2022.” Statista, 17 June 2022,

www.statista.com/statistics/326052/apple-brand-value/.

“Companies Ranked by Market Cap.” CompaniesMarketCap.com - Companies Ranked by Market

Capitalization, companiesmarketcap.com/.

Lovejoy, Ben. “IPhone US Market Share Hits All-Time High, Overtaking Android; Dominates

Global Premium Sales.” 9to5Mac, 2 Sept. 2022, 9to5mac.com/2022/09/02/iphone-us-

market-share/.

“2023 Business Management SL.” Kognity, app.kognity.com/study/app/2023-business-

management-sl/sid-92-cid-144381/overview/.

“Smartphone Rankings.” DXOMARK, www.dxomark.com/smartphones/.

Ferjan, Matija. “Airpods Facts 2023: Airpods Revenue, Release Date, Units Sold.”

HeadphonesAddict, 19 Aug. 2022, headphonesaddict.com/airpods-facts-revenue/.

Udin, Efe, et al. “Samsung Will Not Include a Charger in the Box of The Galaxy a Series.”

Gizchina.com, 7 Mar. 2022, www.gizchina.com/2022/03/07/samsung-will-not-include-a-

charger-in-the-box-of-the-galaxy-a-series/.

Lancaster, Marco, et al. “Huawei Will Stop Supplying Its Smartphones with a Charger in the

Box.” Gizchina.com, 13 Apr. 2021, www.gizchina.com/2021/04/13/huawei-will-stop-

supplying-its-smartphones-with-a-charger-in-the-box/.

11
Uche, Onyebuchi. “Xiaomi Redmi Phones to Ship without Chargers in the Box.” AdimorahBlog,

26 Aug. 2022, adimorahblog.com/redmi-phones-to-ship-without-chargers-in-the-box/.

Krishna, Sai. “Oppo Phone Charger Will Not Come in the Box for Some Models from next Year.”

91mobiles.Com |, 2 Sept. 2022, www.91mobiles.com/hub/oppo-phone-charger-not-in-the-

box-models-next-year/.

Peterdy, Kyle. “Ansoff Matrix.” Corporate Finance Institute, 24 Nov. 2022,

corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/management/ansoff-matrix/.

CFI Team. “Net Profit Margin.” Corporate Finance Institute, 26 Nov. 2022,

corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/accounting/net-profit-margin-formula/.

12
Supporting Document 1:

Darryl. “Has Apple Set the Right Trend by Removing Accessories from the Box?” IGeeksBlog, 9

Sept. 2022, www.igeeksblog.com/apple-removing-accessories-from-box/.

Has Apple set the right trend by

removing accessories from the box?
WRITTEN BYDARRYL

SEPTEMBER 9, 2022
With the iPhone 12 series introduction, Apple stopped including chargers and
headphones with iPhones. At the time, Apple claimed it was doing so to go
carbon neutral by 2030. It’s been two years since, and several manufacturers
have jumped the bandwagon of omitting accessories.

However, what’s being killed in the process is consumers’ pockets. Do you

think it is just another money-making technique, or it’s indeed making a big
impact? Let’s find out!

Why has Apple stopped providing chargers

and EarPods with iPhones?
Apple’s explanation for removing the charging brick and EarPods is to save
the environment by cutting down its carbon emissions. As the accessories are
removed from the box, the box gets slimmer, allowing Apple to ship 70% more
boxes on a pallet.

Apple claims, when put together, these changes will cut 2 million metric tons
of carbon emissions annually. It is the equivalent of removing around 450,000
cars from the road in a year. And iPhone users already have charging
adaptors for their older iPhones anyway.

So, how is any of this wrong? Is there something Apple is not telling us? Well,
there might be something!
13
What is Apple not telling us?
Apple took the saying, “A penny saved is a penny earned,” and put it into
action like no other. How? Well, cutting accessories from the box only helped
the company get faster to their goals.

1. More accessories sold

Firstly, the older iPhones came with power adaptors, which supported only
5W charging speeds and had a USB-A output. Apple has been providing a
USB-C to Lightning adaptor with newer iPhones, rendering the older adaptors
useless.

So, users have to buy new adapters from Apple, which increases not only the
company’s profits but also carbon emission as there’s extra packaging,
transport, etc., of a product that would have already been within the box.
Doesn’t it seem like Apple is contradicting itself?

Right now, it certainly looks like Apple is just cutting costs and trying to make
more profits. Don’t believe me? Well, Apple made about $6 billion by not
providing accessories. In the long run, I hope this move helps make a
difference in the environment.

2. Pushing users towards AirPods

There were several TWS Bluetooth earbuds in the market before the inception
of AirPods. But, as soon as Apple removed the headphone jack from its
iPhones and introduced AirPods, the TWS or Bluetooth Audio wearables
market, in general, took off.

AirPods as a business alone made around $240 billion back in December

2021. Looking at these numbers will enlighten you that Apple made
substantial money by creating a problem and then selling a solution.

14
3. Portless iPhone?
iPhone loses the power adaptor from the box as soon as it introduces
MagSafe wireless charging and accessories compatible with it. Was it a
coincidence? Evidence doesn’t favor the argument. Also, don’t tell me you
haven’t heard rumors stating that Apple would soon omit the Lightning port
and provide a portless iPhone.

Wireless audio and wireless charging are already here. The last step would be
transferring data at higher speeds, and Apple is also said to be working on the
same.

Understanding the pricing pattern of the

iPhone
Up until the iPhone 7 series, iPhones were priced around the $700 mark.
Later, the iPhone X was Apple’s first smartphone to begin at $999, and ever
since, the company has maintained the $999 price point for all its flagship
models.

Does it seem like I’m portraying the Cupertino tech giant in a good light? Not
entirely, but hear me out. Apple has maintained the $999 price point even
though prices for components have been on the rise not only due to inflation,
but the tech industry, in general, has been facing issues like chip shortage,
and well, oh well, all of us have been through the pandemic together so that’s
another aspect we can’t ignore.

Does removing accessories help Apple

maintain the $1000 price point?
Let me begin with an example: The costliest single hardware component with
the iPhone 11 Pro was its cameras costing around $70. However, with the
iPhone 12 Pro, the costliest component was the 5G modem, costing around

15
$90. And that is when accessories disappeared from the box. Another
coincident?

Also, no, I am not ignoring the fact that Apple spends most of its money on
Research and Development, and since the iPhone X, iPhones have had a
similar design with a few minor tweaks here and there. So, that is another
reason Apple has been able to maintain the $999 price point.

Who is affected the most by the removal of

accessories?
The $999 price tag for iPhone 13 Pro, while being expensive, is still affordable
in countries like the USA, UK, Canada, etc. At the same time, in countries like
India, Turkey, and Brazil, you’d have to pay $1500 to $1800 for the same
iPhone 13 Pro. Yes, the price is factored in for numerous reasons.

While the iPhone is not an essential commodity to survive, consumers who

spend almost double the amount on these devices have to go out and spend
more on accessories. Also, these countries are emerging markets for Apple,
and this move certainly disincentivizes consumers. The accessories are also
grossly overpriced in these countries.

Why do other companies follow Apple?

Apple is a 3 trillion-dollar company and while achieving this feat is no piece of
cake, it reached this stage as it’s aware of its value in the market and the
prestige that comes with owning an iPhone. Not everyone considers the
iPhone a means to an end. The never-ending blue bubble vs. green bubble is
a great example of this.

Everyone criticizes Apple for omitting the headphone jack with the iPhone 7,
and rightly so; it led to TWS becoming mainstream. Not that it is a bad thing,
because TWS make taking calls and listening to audio convenient, but it adds
costs. However, Apple wasn’t the first manufacturer to omit the headphone
jack. OPPO did it long back in 2012 with its OPPO Finder.

16
It didn’t pan out as the company created a problem but didn’t have the proper
infrastructure ready to solve it at the time. The same cannot be said for when
Apple omitted the headphone jack. It created a problem and sold a solution,
i.e., the AirPods.

Has this step had a positive impact on the

environment?
Apple revealed it saved 861,000 metric tons of copper, tin, and zinc ore due to
its move of not including chargers and EarPods in the box in its Environmental
Progress Report. And the report also mentions how thinner packaging allows
70% more iPhone boxes to be shipped on a pallet.

But what if you’re buying an iPhone for the first time or even upgrading from
an older iPhone? You will need to get a new power adaptor from Apple or any
third-party company just to charge your iPhones. This results in more carbon
emissions both in terms of packaging and transportation.

What should Apple have done?

In my opinion, Apple could give users a choice if they wanted a charger or not
with their purchase, just like Xiaomi did with their Mi 11. If Apple actually cared
about the environment, it could’ve added incentives to purchasing just the
iPhone if you already have a power brick.

What are your thoughts on Apple not providing basic accessories in the box,
and how other smartphone manufacturers are catching up on this trend?
Share in the comments below. At this rate, no accessories in phone boxes
don’t seem too far away!

17
Supporting Document 2:

le Roux, Jano. “Who Else Wants Apple to Put Back the Damn Charger in Your iPhone Box?”

Medium, The Startup, 7 Sept. 2022, medium.com/swlh/who-else-wants-apple-to-put-back-

the-damn-charger-in-your-iphone-box-b9d4cfa62b53.

Who Else Wants Apple To Put Back The

Damn Charger In Your iPhone Box?
Was Apple’s real intention to save money or the
planet?

Brazil just hammered 3 thorns deep into Apple’s inner-thigh flesh.

 An instant fine of R$12,275,500 (around $2.3 million USD).

 A ban to stop selling iPhones that don’t come with charging
bricks.
 A cancelation of iPhone 12’s registration with Brazil’s FCC
equivalent.

But worst of all, Brazil did this one day before Apple’s iPhone 14
launch.

Probably because the iPhone 14 will not come with a charging brick
either and Brazil doesn’t like the sound of that one bit.

The sad removal of the charging brick

18
In 2020, Apple removed the brick from the iPhone 12’s box.

Not even the leakers could predict that.

It totally shocked the world.

What ticked me off more than the brick was that they removed the
EarPods too and most people didn’t even realize or seem to care about
it.

Apple’s removal of the brick and the EarPods left the world with a
woefully underwhelming iPhone unboxing experience.

Unboxing an iPhone feels like going to a fancy restaurant on a hungry

tummy only to get a plate so tiny it would make a toddler cry.

Why Apple says it removed the charger

Apple claimed it was to help fight climate change.

“Customers already have over 700 million Lightning headphones, and

many customers have moved to a wireless experience,” says Lisa
Jackson, vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives at
Apple, during the iPhone 12 launch event.

“There are also over 2 billion Apple power adapters out there in the
world, and that’s not counting the billions of third-party adapters.
19
We’re removing these items from the iPhone box, which reduces
carbon emissions and avoids the mining and use of precious
materials.”

Apple argues that this change made the iPhone’s packaging smaller.

Jackson explains that Apple can fit up to 70 percent more Apple

products on a shipping pallet. “Taken all together, the changes we’ve
made for iPhone 12 cut over 2 million metric tons of carbon annually;
it’s like removing 450,000 cars from roads every year.”

The real reason Apple removed the charger

Pure greed.

Ruediger Kuehr, an environmentalist with extensive knowledge on the

matter, told Wired that it’s essential to “put the impact of the removal
of the charger and EarPods from the latest iPhones and Apple Watches
into perspective.”

“The percentage of chargers coming from tablets, smartphones, et

cetera is 0.1 percent of the total e-waste increase,” he explains. “This
makes up roughly 54,000 metric tons of e-waste generated. If you
consider only Apple’s portion, it’s probably half or less. At the
maximum, you could probably say it’s 25,000 metric tons, or 0.05
percent of the total e-waste increase annually.”

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It reminds me of the 2018 straw campaign that turned out to be
nothing more than a ploy to get people off the backs of the commercial
fishing companies actually doing damage to the ocean.

It is just such a tiny percentage of the waste stealing the spotlight from
much bigger polluters that actually need a mob of cancel culture
TikTokers putting cameras in their faces 24/7.

And the problem is people still need adapters to charge their phones.
Many are still stuck with 5W adapters that take light years to charge
newer iPhones.

That means if they want their iPhones to charge faster they will likely
need to order a 20W adapter from Apple. This adapter now needs to be
put into separate packages and shipped off by themselves. This means
significantly increased environmental consequences.

And besides that, with Apple’s chargers being so frail, many users
including myself run through multiple cables per device. It quickly
stacks 5 chargers if you’re heavily tech-reliant like me.

 One computer
 One for the car
 One for the office
 One for the kitchen
 One for the bedstand

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As a hardcore Apple fanatic, it is sad to admit that this has less to do
with saving the planet and more with cutting costs.

Reports have since revealed that Apple has saved at least $6.5B by
removing the accessories. Factoring in shipment costs and packaging
raw material costs, the savings may lie closer to the $10-$15B range.

I tend to agree with Steve Hynd, a campaigns manager at City to Sea,

who spoke out in a CNBC interview urging Apple to focus on reusing
technology. He says:

“This means designing for durability and easy repairs by having swap
out modular components. It also means encouraging and facilitating a
second-hand reuse market for their phones. So while we welcome these
small steps in producing less waste on the fringes of their business, we
urge them to keep watering the fruitful seed of an idea, reuse, and
embed this into the core of their business plan.”

It’s easy to save the planet when it benefits your bottom line. But true
leadership is shown when you take action knowing that it will affect
your bottom line and still have the courage to push through.

Apple has not shown this courage.

Supporting Document 3:

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“Annual Reports on Form 10-K.” Apple Inc., 25 Sept. 2021.

Supporting Document 4:

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Curry, David. “Apple Statistics (2022).” Business of Apps, 28 Oct. 2022,

www.businessofapps.com/data/apple-statistics/.

iPhone sales
Similar to revenue, iPhone sales saw enormous growth between 2008-2015. There
was a steady decline in sales between 2015 to 2020, mostly due to increased
competition in China.
iPhone annual sales 2008 to 2021 (mm)

Note: Apple stopped reporting iPhone sales in Q4 2018. All values afterwards are
estimates. Sources: Apple, Canalys, CNBC, Gartner, Strategy Analytics

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Supporting Document 5:

25
 “TWS Shipments Exceed 100 Million in Q4 2021.” Canalys Newsroom, 9 Mar. 2022,

www.canalys.com/newsroom/worldwide-tws-shipments-Q4-2021.

Worldwide TWS shipments and growth

Vendor Q4 2021 Q4 2021 Q4 2020 Q4 2020 Annual
shipments market shipments market growth
(million) share (million) share
Apple* 40.4 38.9% 33.7 39.3% +20%
Samsung* 7.8 7.5% 6.8 7.9% +15%
Xiaomi 6.9 6.7% 7.2 8.4% -4%
boat 3.7 3.6% 1.3 1.5% +195%
Edifier 3.2 3.1% 3.0 3.5% +5%
Others 41.7 40.2% 33.8 39.4% +23%
Total 103.8 100.0% 85.8 100.0% +21%
*Apple includes Beats; Samsung includes Harman subsidiaries
Note: percentages may not add up to 100% due to rounding
Source: Canalys Smart Personal Audio Analysis (sell-in shipments), March 2022

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