The wireless charging market will grow by 80 percent in 2017 to over 375 million in terms of device shipments, IHS Markit forecasts.
Samsung in 2015 introduced wireless charging with the Galaxy range. “The availability of integrated wireless charging even took a slight backwards step across the year, being dropped from the LG G5 and also in the move from Google Nexus to Google Pixel,” said IHS Markit.
The notable development this year was the launch of LG G6 (in the pixture) with in-built Qi and PMA specification inductive wireless charging for the US market
The wireless charging market needs one or two more OEMs to integrate and the whole process can snowball.
IHS Markit said USB-C and the rise of fast charging seemed to be the direction that OEMs wanted to be heading first, whilst the continued focus on all-metal body design also presented challenges for wireless charging.
The report said wireless charging market grew to over 200 million devices shipping per year, with over 90 percent want wireless charging on their next phone. 98 percent of those who have used the wireless charging technology saying they are happy with the function and would choose it again.
Last month, Apple joined the WPC and Huawei have joined the AirFuel Alliance indicating that OEMs want to be a bigger part of the wireless charging conversation once more.
The shift to a metal and glass body design could also be the sign of things to come for OEM handset design in 2017 – removing one of the potential obstacles that wireless charging has faced so far.
editor@telecomlead.com
