Bombshell: Powermat Dumps the Power Matters Alliance for Qi

Powermat just dropped an atomic bomb – the wireless charging provider has jumped ship from the Power Matters Alliance to its sworn enemy, the Wireless Power Consortium (i.e., Qi).

This is huge. Monumental – like Sony abandoning Blu-Ray for HD-DVD. Or JVC ditching VHS for Betamax. Powermat’s inductive charging technology – adopted by the PMA – was the original lynchpin for the wireless charging dogfight, and Duracell, General Motors, Starbucks, and AT&T all backed the PMA standard.

Meanwhile, the Wireless Power Consortium – and the Qi standard – attracted such luminaries as LG Electronics, Motorola Mobility, Nokia, Samsung, BlackBerry, Sony, and lately, Apple. The latter may have tipped the scales.

Once the Cupertino behemoth threw its considerable weight behind Qi for the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, Starbucks added support for both standards. It’s now a foregone conclusion – the PMA is the Betamax of wireless charging. Powermat’s CEO, Elad Dubzinski, alluded to this in a press release announcing the switch to Qi:

“Qi has become the dominant wireless charging standard on the market, and the recently launched Apple iPhone lineup is evidence of this success,” he said.

Of course, we’re still talking about an arguably inferior technology.

I’ve made no bones about my elation for RF-based wireless power, which charges electronic widgets at a distance (up to 80 feet, in some cases). Inductive charging requires a short gap between the transmitting and receiving coil – 4 cm for the Qi standard – and that doesn’t seem radically different from wired charging.

Over-the-air wireless charging is the future. No doubt about it. But inductive charging is still the norm for mobile phones and certain industrial and automotive applications (like in-road wireless charging tech).

Even Powercast, one of the pioneers in RF-based wireless power, concedes that Qi is more suitable for mobile phones – at CES, they showed off wireless tech that could charge mobile phone cases and a configuration that uses their Powerspot transmitter in conjunction with Qi inductive solutions. All of which raises Qi’s star power.

The wireless format war could be entering its final stages....

“We are looking forward to Powermat joining WPC,” said Menno Treffers, Chairman, WPC. “Powermat was one of the pioneers that recognized the value of wireless charging. By joining WPC, it further unifies the wireless charging ecosystem behind the Qi global standard.”