Mexican consumers demand the return of the ‘little cube’ to Samsung and Apple

But now consumers are protesting a move by Samsung and Apple to remove chargers and other accessories from the packaging of their mobile devices. While both companies argue that the move is intended to reduce emissions, users have experienced significant inconvenience and increased costs.

The petition states that the removal of essential accessories such as charging adapters and headphones has forced consumers to purchase these products separately, often at high prices. “This situation not only negatively impacts the user experience, but also increases the total cost of ownership of the devices,” says Deiv Cazares, creator of the petition.

Despite Samsung and Apple’s claims that removing accessories reduces emissions and decreases packaging size, many consumers are forced to purchase these items separately, leading to increased packaging and resource use, creating a larger carbon footprint in the global supply chain. “This contradiction between the stated goal and the actual impact raises serious questions about the true intentions of these measures,” says Deiv.

This is not the first time that consumers have come together to demand major changes in the policies of major brands. In a previous petition, the consumer community managed to stop the blocking of phones in Mexico by Samsung, Motorola and ZTE. Thanks to the pressure exerted through the Change.org platform and the union of more than 92,020 people, the rights of users were protected, ensuring that companies did not implement unfair practices that negatively affected consumers.

Now, more than 3,000 signatures are urging the Federal Consumer Protection Agency (Profeco) to intervene to protect consumer rights. “It is essential that these brands reconsider their decision and reinstate essential accessories without unjustified additional costs. This action would not only benefit users, but would also contribute to mitigating the negative environmental impact associated with purchasing accessories separately.”

The impact of the ‘cube’ on the environment

Technology companies have decided to take this measure arguing that the accessories were not used by all users and did represent an impact on the environment by consuming more plastic, as well as space in packaging. Apple stated in 2020 that the savings from this action represented removing 450,000 cars from circulation annually.

“Across the iPhone lineup, we’ve chosen to include a USB-C to Lightning cable with ultra-fast charging that most people need instead of the power adapter and AirPods that often go unused. This reduces packaging and overall shipments by fitting more boxes into each batch. And we’re helping our manufacturing partners transition to renewable energy. Together, these efforts help us avoid 2 million tons of CO2 emissions each year,” the company said at the time.

While both companies have said they have reduced energy consumption and impact due to this factor, it is not clear whether shipping the accessories separately represents a similar carbon footprint.