Apple Acquires Wireless Charging Company PowerbyProxi

On Wednesday, Apple announced the acquisition of PowerbyProxi, a small New Zealand-based company specializing in wireless charging technology based on the Qi standard.

In a rare comment confirming the acquisition, Apple SVP of Hardware Engineering Dan Riccio told local publication Stuff:

“The team will be a great addition as Apple works to create a wireless future. We want to bring truly effortless charging to more places and more customers around the world.”

Founded by Auckland entrepreneur Fady Mishriki in 2007, PowerbyProxi is a spin-off of a University of Auckland project that has garnered international recognition for the development of wireless charging systems. Headlining the company’s product offering is the Proxi-Module platform, a modular wireless power and data transfer system designed for high-power applications.

Whether Apple will allow the company to continue sales is unknown. Hardware companies purchased by Apple usually cease production as the team is brought in to work on in-house initiatives.

Apple just recently introduced wireless charging to its smartphone lineup with the launch of iPhone 8 and iPhone X. While previous Apple-branded inductive solutions, namely those used in Apple Watch, relied on in-house standards, the latest iPhones use technology based on Qi.

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