Samsung to enforce usage of official accessories?

It looks like Samsung really wants you to use only that which it officially makes itself. After the region lock that has troubled users just because Samsung wants to put a lid on grey imports, a report out of the Korean media suggests that the company might be looking at enforcing the use of official Samsung accessories next. This will reportedly be done with the use of an ID chip, which will be embedded in accessories (chargers, battery packs, and even covers) and used to authorize that they're official before they work.

Now, if this indeed happens, then it will bring along both benefits and disadvantages. In case of benefits, this would ensure that the frequency of accidents such as batteries catching fire and damaging the device/property – which are usually the result of third-party batteries being used – would be reduced. However, the flip side of this that you won't be able to use accessories not approved by Samsung, leaving only Samsung's official accessories as the option, which would be bad when you consider how costly those things are.

Of course, Samsung will still allow third-party accessory makers to get certification for use with the company's devices, but it could hurt consumer choice, especially in terms of price. At the moment this is just a rumor, but with Samsung's recent antics, we wouldn't be surprised if this is the next step it will take in its goal to make things more difficult for consumers.

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