Samsung laughed at Apple for ditching phone chargers. Now, it might do the same.

Remember when Samsung made fun of Apple for not shipping a charger with the iPhone?

Well, now it looks as if the company might take the same road as Apple after all. Brazilian site Tecnoblog (via 9to5Mac) noticed that regulatory agency ANATEL has approved Samsung’s new Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra in Brazil. The documentation filed reveals that the new models will come without a charger or earbuds in the box — just like Apple’s iPhone 12 models. 

We heard that Samsung was considering ditching the charger back in July, but the ANATEL filing provides more proof that this is the next step for the Korean smartphone giant. 

Of course, nothing is officially confirmed at this point, and even if Samsung does ship the phones with chargers in Brazil, it could still opt to include the charger in other markets. Notably, Brazil is considering forcing smartphone makers to ship a charger with phones, so Samsung might end up including a charger in that country regardless of its initial plans.

If it does happen, it would continue the tradition of Samsung mocking Apple about something and then doing the exact same thing, such as removing the headphone jack from smartphones, for example. 

The environmental reasoning behind shipping less unnecessary components with phones is fairly sound, and I don’t mind not getting a power adapter or headphones in the box, but I would like to get something extra instead, such as a coupon or a case. We’ll see if Samsung does something like that instead of just charging the same price for less value.