When Xiaomi officially unveiled the Mi 11 flagship series on December 28, the glitz and glamour that attended the arrival of the sleek, premium flagship was somewhat tainted by the announcement that the device will ship without a charging adapter.

Xiaomi’s decision comes just two months after Apple announced the iPhone 12 series without a charging adapter in the miniaturized retail box. What makes Xiaomi’s decision even surprising is that they had poked fun at Apple alongside Samsung and OnePlus, over the iPhone 12’s adapter removal.

The decision still continues to generate heated debates among Mi fans, many of whom question the sense behind the decision, considering that most buyers will still have to purchase a fast charging adapter separately, anyway. When the Mi 11 went on sale on January 1, only 20,000 persons purchased the “Green Edition” which is without an adapter. Also, an ongoing poll being conducted by Gizmochina shows that most of the respondents think the removal is a bad idea.

Quite a large number of persons who have expressed their thought about this issue think Xiaomi just copycatted Apple. Well, Xiaomi’s CEO Lei Jun has come out to debunk such notions. The CEO hinted recently in a live broadcast (via) that the idea of ​​not including the charger was initiated by him and wasn’t a copy of what Apple did.

He stated that he had mooted the idea in 2015. Indeed Lei Jun had asked the big question on Weibo in a bid to gather user opinions on the matter. The story was covered by several blogs at the time, including GSMArena.  He also added that when the company moved to Xiaomi’s Beijing Park last year, several boxes of chargers were thrown away. Thus, he again moved to implement the idea o removing the adapter from the retail box with the option to buy it separately.

In summary, Xiaomi’s decision is the implementation of an idea conceived five years ago. However, that cannot in any way remove the fact that the move to implement the idea may have been influenced by Apple.

UP NEXT: Xiaomi Mi 11 Hands-on: Premium Design with a fabulous 2K 120Hz AMOLED screen

The post Lei Jun says the idea to remove the Mi 11’s adapter was conceived 5 years ago! appeared first on Gizmochina.