Amazon will no longer allow the sale of USB cords with the potential to fry a consumer’s technology.
In its list of banned items, USB Type-C cables and adapter products have now been added. This is not a blanket ban on USB-C products, of course, since USB Type-C has rapidly become one of the most widely adopted connector standards in the technology industry. Companies like Apple have even gone so far as to release laptops with only USB Type-C ports.
Any USB Type-C cable or adapter product which is not compliant with official specifications will no longer be allowed for sale or resale on Amazon.
The new USB Type-C connector is small, multipurpose, universal, and reversible. Capable of supplying power, video output, and enormous amounts of data per second, USB Type-C is positioned to replace the micro-USB connectors commonly found on many smartphones and portable devices.
Cheap power cords are nothing new and are still widely available, but inexpensive and poorly manufactured cables have proven to be dangerous both to users and to the devices they connect.
The USB Implementers Forum, the organization responsible for USB-C standards, has been issuing certification approval for safe USB Type-C cables since the connectors first appeared on the market. Until now, Amazon had allowed non-certified products on its platform. Since the company is now aligning more closely with physical retailers such as Staples and Best Buy, the gap between online and in-store product quality standards may continue to narrow.
Source: Amazon
