Why are cables not included? Is this a new thing?

[Fordiesel69]

I only became aware of this when my company shipped me a new samsung S20 phone. It came with a USB-C cable but no charger. To me this was not an issue becuse you can still use the device out of the box and plug it into any usb port to charge it, if for some reason it is dead / low battery out of the box. So to some this is a big deal, and to me it was not because everything has a usb port you can charge with.

Now fast forward to Blu Ray players. Sony decided to package it without any possible means to use the product out of the box. It may seem silly but I use the (Yellow/White/Red) connectors on my old failed DVD player. I do not have an extra HDMI cable laying around. Why would they not provide this on a $99 dollar model, but provide it with their $88 dollar model.

 

[Blueshound]

$$

 

[JohnnyG]

Yes, it's a new thing. Part of Samsungs "green" efforts, but I think it was started by Apple. Just got an S23+ and no charger/no cable. I have several chargers and cables lying around, like a whole drawer full, so no big deal.

 

[Hyundai Respecter]

Yes, it's a new thing. Part of Samsungs "green" efforts, but I think it was started by Apple. Just got an S23+ and no charger/no cable. I have several chargers and cables lying around, like a whole drawer full, so no big deal.

In this case “green” means the money they’re saving by not including the cables.

 

[wpod]

Why include the cables when the companies can charge their consumers extra $$$$$

 

[JohnnyG]

In this case “green” means the money they’re saving by not including the cables.

Yeah. Maybe that's the definition of "Greenwashing".

 

[SC Maintenance]

Its inflation. The 2 quart ice cream is now 1.5 quarts. Your DVD player no longer has cables.

Its called shrinkflation.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

You are supposed to have dozens laying around. And does it have wireless inductive charging?

My wife's mid-low end samsung didn't come with one either. I was surprised, My bottom of the list A02 came with one, happily. I don't charge mine in the car. why bother - it has a two day battery- just plug it in at beddy-bye time

Blue Ray through a low def video cable? That's an absolutely terrible picture going down that cable.

You got to get a HDMI. We used to toss them out by the hundreds where I used to work.

Don't own any "working" disc players - gone the way of the DoDo.

New tech is frustrating and coming at you like a machine gun

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Its inflation. The 2 quart ice cream is now 1.5 quarts. Your DVD player no longer has cables.

Its called shrinkflation.

A lady at the grocery store was peering in the freezer at Ben and Jerry's pints. I was next to her at the "1/2 gallon" container aisle. I said, that's tasty stuff, but I am not paying 20 dollars a half gallon for ice cream!

She said. "Well I am only buying a pint."

 

[brianl703]

Friend of mine installed a 6-camera Lorex DVR system....it came with a 2 foot network cable.

Well, at least they included one..

 

[miden851]

Yeah. Maybe that's the definition of "Greenwashing".

yes they claim eco reasons but in the end its all about $$$

 

[y_p_w]

You are supposed to have dozens laying around. And does it have wireless inductive charging?

My wife's mid-low end samsung didn't come with one either. I was surprised, My bottom of the list A02 came with one, happily. I don't charge mine in the car. why bother - it has a two day battery- just plug it in at beddy-bye time

Blue Ray through a low def video cable? That's an absolutely terrible picture going down that cable.

You got to get a HDMI. We used to toss them out by the hundreds where I used to work.

Don't own any "working" disc players - gone the way of the DoDo.

New tech is frustrating and coming at you like a machine gun

My Samsung TV came with a single Samsung branded HDMI cable. I bought a small Roku box for my dad and there was more room in the package for the cable than for the device.

At this point I’ve got so many cables. They’re more or less disposable and with Apple’s MFi program and industry standard USB-C making it easy/cheap I almost never use OEM. I generally keep any original cable in the package.

 

[UncleDave]

yes they claim eco reasons but in the end its all about $$$

Correct - money to them AND price to you.

The steps that it takes to add to a BOM for global delivery would boggle your mind.

You bet you're getting charged - worth it? Not for a cable 8/10 poeple already have sitting in that drawer we all have full of cables.

 

[miden851]

Correct - money to them AND price to you.

The steps that it takes to add to a BOM for global delivery would boggle your mind.

You bet you're getting charged - worth it? Not for a cable 8/10 poeple already have sitting in that drawer we all have full of cables.

that's the thing, there are so many cables out there; that's a corporate America claims

 

[alarmguy]

Yeah, I was annoyed as heck when I bought two new iPhone 13's a year ago, cost $1600 (retail) and they do not include a way to charge them out of the box making them unusable (technically) unless you pay additional money for the charger. Yeah, I get it, everyone has USB chargers (most do) however it should not be a thought to the consumer as far as what is optimum for an $800 phone.
All in the name of "green" I say baloney. All in the name of pretending to be green while saving a few dollars per device.

This is my one beef against Apple even though I use their devices exclusively, they come across as cheap and know better than me attitude. Phone, Desktop, Notebook

 

[JohnnyJohnson]

A lady at the grocery store was peering in the freezer at Ben and Jerry's pints. I was next to her at the "1/2 gallon" container aisle. I said, that's tasty stuff, but I am not paying 20 dollars a half gallon for ice cream!

She said. "Well I am only buying a pint."

Wonder how well that would work for her at the gas pump?

 

[dishdude]

Apple got away with it and the industry followed. I don't mind not getting a charger with accessories like earbuds or a watch, but dropping 4 figures for a phone I expect a charger in the box capable of fast charging the device.

 

[ctrcbob]

Yeah, I was annoyed as heck when I bought two new iPhone 13's a year ago, cost $1600 (retail) and they do not include a way to charge them out of the box making them unusable (technically) unless you pay additional money for the charger. Yeah, I get it, everyone has USB chargers (most do) however it should not be a thought to the consumer as far as what is optimum for an $800 phone.
All in the name of "green" I say baloney. All in the name of pretending to be green while saving a few dollars per device.

This is my one beef against Apple even though I use their devices exclusively, they come across as cheap and know better than me attitude. Phone, Desktop, Notebook

Same with my SE-2. One end is Lighting, to plug into phone. Other end is USB-C. Can’t plug cable into car or into USB-A Charger or into car. Went into Amazon and purchased plugs that are
USB-A on Male end and
USB-C on Female end.
Plug USB-C cable into device then plug USB-A end into charger or car.

 

[y_p_w]

Apple got away with it and the industry followed. I don't mind not getting a charger with accessories like earbuds or a watch, but dropping 4 figures for a phone I expect a charger in the box capable of fast charging the device.

Apple has never done that with iPhones. The only power adapter they ever included in the box with iPhones was the 5W version - called the "cube" for the US version. Even for the newest versions that could charge at far higher current than 1A. It sounds like their transition to no power adapter in the iPhone box coincided with their inclusion of USB-C to Lighting cables. The cube was actually pretty compact, but for others around the world, fitting that plug in could make it really big. This is the 5W version solid in Hong Kong:

I've gotten a couple of iPads within the last year and they still have a 20W Apple USB-C power adapter in the box.

 

[PimTac]

The manufacturers have been doing this for a while now. It should be stated in the “What’s In The Box” description.

A lot of people already have chargers and cables. They really don’t need another one.

On the HDMI cables I ran into an issue some years back. The cable they supplied wouldn’t reach due to my setup so I had to go and buy a longer one. The short one sat and collected dust somewhere.