No longer is wireless charging a “nice-to-have,” but rather a feature that will come with most major phones. If you were following the Mobile World Congress news, you may have seen over the weekend that Samsung, Sony and Nokia announced new devices. And that’s not all! There are still many more to come.
The last few months have not only seen a surge in the addition of new devices, but new membership as well. In the last six months, WPC membership has more than doubled. This has not only included the device makers, like Xiaomi and ZTE, but major brands like General Motors, 3M, Anker, HP and more.
It’s not just early adopters who are looking for this technology anymore. Brands are clearly investing in Qi for future products, as evidenced by the surge in membership and products that we have seen. Because of these recent additions, the WPC has hit a big milestone: there are now over 1,000 Qi-certified devices available on the market!
We expect to see exciting times ahead with wireless power. IHS Markit predicted in April 2017 325 million wireless charging units would ship by the end of the year, only to see the final number far exceed that, at nearly 500 million. By 2022, IHS expects to see close to 2 billion units shipped – four times what it is today!
As we see this explosive growth, it’s important to note that fake or counterfeit chargers can quickly become a real danger. At best, an uncertified charger is a waste of money and won’t be compatible with the handset being charged. At worst, however, an uncertified charger can cause damage to the device or even to the user, as uncertified chargers may not have safety measures in place to prevent excessive heat. With the proliferation of certified Qi wireless chargers, we will start to see a decline in these counterfeit products claiming to be “Qi-compatible.”
Original post url:https://www.wirelesspowerconsortium.com/blog/282/wireless-power-surges-onward-with-new-qi-products-and-certification-milestone