There are reports now that the Samsung Galaxy S21 box may not include a charger or earphones. By doing this, the company would be following in Apple’s footsteps. It recently launched the iPhone 12 which does not come with any of these accessories in the box.
Apple has said that it has made this decision for environmental purposes. However, there has been no revision of the price. Its phones don’t cost any less because they no longer come with a charger. This provides the company with an opportunity to increase its margins. Samsung is now believed to be thinking along the same lines.
This is going to be ironic. Samsung’s social media team went pretty hard on the sarcasm when Apple made its announcement about removing the charger and earphones. It won’t be surprising if Samsung eventually goes down this road, though, because it would make sense for the business.
Korean media is reporting that Samsung is considering ditching both the earphones and the charger from the Galaxy S21 box. Such a move would apply to the entire lineup. Some insiders believe that even if Samsung doesn’t ditch both, it could remove earphones from the box and ship the device with a charger only.
Samsung already makes customers buy a charger separately if they want to use the 45W charging speeds that some of its devices support. Those devices com with a 25W charger in the box. We can expect that to remain the case even if the earphones are removed.
There’s precedent for Samsung not shipping earphones with a flagship smartphone. Customers in the US don’t get the AKG USB-B earphones with the Galaxy Note 20 series. They can get them for free by reaching out to customer service but not everyone who buys the phone will do that or even know that this is an option.
Whether or not Samsung will reduce the price of the Galaxy S21 if it removes these accessories remains to be seen. The company would obviously be aiming to increase individual sales of its chargers and nudge customers toward buying its Galaxy Buds wireless earphones. Either way, this will help Samsung increase its margins on the device, even if it makes some fans disappointed.