By Emmanuel Oluebube, Correspondent UK

The EU’s new rules around USB-C chargers are expected to further impact Apple’s sentiments, according to GlobalData. The leading data and analytics company notes that Apple’s sentiments around Europe were already down by 15 per cent in Q3 2021* compared to Q2 2021, and the announcement will do nothing to its recovery.

Business Fundamentals Analyst at GlobalData, Rinaldo Pereira comments: “The company ditched charging bricks for some of its more recent iPhones for environmental reasons.  The newer EU regulations add to Apple’s troubles around legislations despite its ESG focus. Sentiments around Europe and regulation are likely to be impacted further with difficulties around the iPhone 13 which might need to be redesigned and manufactured again amidst supply chain problems.”

Environmental issues are important to Apple, as seen in the mentions and discussions around environmental, social and governance (ESG) issues in its filing documents. In 2020 and 2021*, ESG-related themes, including ‘Environment’, ‘Climate Change’, ‘Energy’ and ‘Carbon Emissions’ were the top-mentioned themes in Apple’s filings, with the iPad and Mac being the top products discussed.

Senior Analyst at GlobalData, Anisha Bhatia also adds that Apple spent a considerable chunk of time discussing sustainability during its product keynotes. In addition, there has been a 16 per cent rise in mentions of ‘Europe’ in Apple’s filings from Q1-Q3 2021 over the same period in 2020.

Pereira concludes: “Newer iPads and Macs already have the USB-C. Apple might have to remanufacture iPhone models specifically for the EU market as most premium android phones have the USB-C charging port.”