Suppliers said to be expecting quick adoption of USB Type-C port in smartphones and laptops thanks to Apple

Back in March, Apple unveiled the 12-inch MacBook — a super-thin, lightweight, ridiculously portable laptop with a Retina display and other noteworthy features, including a single USB Type-C port.

The inclusion of the single port, which was brand new for the market at the moment of the announcement, made plenty of people start looking ahead, just as Apple was doing with the forward-thinking MacBook as a whole. The single port is meant to handle both power and data transfer, and while USB Type-C is far from ubiquitous at this point, suppliers are apparently gearing up for that to be the case sooner than later.

According to a report published recently by DigiTimes, suppliers in Taiwan, including Etron Technology, ASMedia, and VIA Labs, are all positioning their products to offer a USB Type-C port. The report indicates that they are expecting “widespread adoption” of the new port, due in high part because of Apple’s adoption. Of course, it’s worth noting that, as of this writing, only one device within Apple’s lineup offers this port, but there are already rumors that the 12.9-inch “iPad Pro” will feature the port as well at some point in the future.

The adoption of USB Type-C is certainly gaining traction from other manufacturers, including Google and some Android smartphone manufacturers. Almost immediately after Apple unveiled the 12-inch MacBook with its USB Type-C port, Google unveiled the Chromebook Pixel 2, which boasts a pair of USB Type-C ports. Most recently, OnePlus, a smartphone manufacturer that’s been gaining traction within the Android ecosystem, unveiled the OnePlus 2, which also features a USB Type-C port.

While the MacBook boasts the USB Type-C port, and it’s possible that other members of the MacBook family pick up the port as well, Apple has commonly utilized proprietary ports for its devices in the past, especially for its mobile products. While USB Type-A is common across other mobile devices, Apple’s stuck with its Lightning port for quite some time now. Some have suggested Apple might not adopt USB Type-C for its iPhone lineup, but with rumors that the larger iPad could see the port included, those fears might be misplaced.