USB-C to become the Korean standard for charging and data transferring

The USB Type-C (USB-C) will become the standard charging and transferring means for small electronic products such as phones, tablet PCs, and portable speakers in South Korea from next year.

The Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (KATS) announced on Tuesday that it discussed enabling USB-C connectors for electronic devices in a meeting with officials from major electronics companies in the country such as Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, Apple Korea, and HP Korea.

Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, TG Sambo, and SK magic each reported plans of offering USB-C charging ports on their devices.

Samsung Electronics stated that it plans to offer USB-C charging ports on all of its products from next year.

LG Electronics plans to equip premium laptops, tablet PCs, wireless earphones, and portable speakers with USB-C ports first before adding USB-C ports to regular laptops and phones.

TG Sambo will equip more of its computers with USB-C connectors while SK magic plans to enable USB-C connectors for its home appliances with less than 200 watts of power.

According to KATS, the required data speed and power capacity have gone up with the increase in the number of devices that support USB-C connectors.

The International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) has thus decided to adopt the USB-Implementers Forum (IF)’s USB-C standard as the new IEC standard in March last year, more than doubling the maximum power delivery from the current 100W to 240W.

KATS plans to first enact three types of Korean Standards (KS) based on these IEC standards in August and issue further guidelines in October.

“If USB-C connectors are supported in more electronic devices, it will resolve the issue of having to use different types of chargers,” said Lee Sang-hoon, the president of KATS.

[ⓒ Maeil Business Newspaper & mk.co.kr, All rights reserved]