• sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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    7 months ago

    They’re making a big bet on smart home stuff, which is why they’re designing that kind of stuff more. They want to keep their customers coming back for smart home stuff so they can build an ecosystem, whereas they probably don’t care about USB chargers nearly as much.

    I’m guessing they’re fine (they’re probably testing it), but I highly doubt they’re actually designing the USB chargers, and they’re probably not buying from a known brand (price would be too high).

    20W chargers are cheap from name brands (2 pack for ~€10), but 45W chargers aren’t (like €20-30 for a basic 45W charger). So if they’re selling 45W chargers for cheap, they’re just likely rebranded stuff from a cheap manufacturer.

    • EddoWagt@feddit.nl
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      7 months ago

      Your sources don’t say anything about the design, only manufacturing. The chargers could still very well be designed by IKEA, but made by another company. That sort of stuff is really common industry and can help keep the price down. This doesn’t mean that the product is cheaply designed or a literal rebrand of an existing product

      • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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        7 months ago

        The second one does, here’s a quote:

        More basic items come directly from suppliers to skip the design and conception stage. However, it isn’t as easy as picking out items from a catalog. IKEA works with their world-class buyers to check the quality of the products and negotiate the price.

        This means that they have to keep their shelves stocked with products to keep up with demand, so using both manufacturers and supplies ensures that new products will consistently make a turnaround.

        I would assume a USB charger would fall under the “more basic items” part.

        I take this to mean that instead of designing a product to be manufactured elsewhere, they sometimes buy products to relabel and put on the shelves, without going through any form of design process (though I’m guessing they do test this stuff).

        • EddoWagt@feddit.nl
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          7 months ago

          Ah sorry, should’ve read further than the first paragraph… In European markets there are strict safety guidelines they have to adhere to, so they will definitely need to test what they sell

          • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
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            7 months ago

            But will they test for longevity as well? Or just safety?

            As long as it’s not going to fry my phone, I’ll probably give it a shot, but it may still be a better deal to pay a bit more somewhere else.

            • EddoWagt@feddit.nl
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              7 months ago

              Who knows really, it won’t fry your phone but I have no idea how long it will last. To be honest I expect it will probably be just fine