Why the price gap of power adapter is so big

Customers often say that power adapters with the same rated power have such a wide price gap on the market. Some even double? Once upon a time, the slogan of 1 watt and 1 yuan rang throughout the Power Supply industry, and looking at today, many 36W power adapters are at a price of less than 20 yuan, so should it be changed to 1 watt and 5 cents? Looking at the high-end power adapter products in the same industry from another angle, although the price has also been lowering, but it is also close to the level of 1 watt and 1 yuan. Is the power adapter industry really swallowed by the price war? Then there is a higher price difference between the products. It is how it happened? Let us take a look at what is the difference in power adapter prices.

Generally speaking, a power adapter is composed of a large number of electronic components, and due to potential electrical hazards, the power adapter is a closed product that does not allow the housing to be opened. This has led many users to measure only by the wattage indicated on the power adapter nameplate and the most intuitive price. The power adapter, this seemingly simple "plastic box", is far less simple than we thought. Only the materials can affect the quality of 70% of a power adapter, and circuit design, production technology and other factors also occupy a lot of weight. In addition to the rated power, its stability is the most intuitive factor affecting the user experience.

For a penny, you pay for the goods. This is the philosophy of many people buying products. Generally speaking, the materials used for the internal electronic components of the power adapter are roughly divided into three types. The lowest level is old materials or fake materials; the middle level is secondary materials; the highest level is good materials. Generally, cottage factories will use old materials and fake materials to charge up, and miscellaneous brand manufacturers will use better secondary materials, and only first-line brands will use the best quality real materials and good materials. Therefore, two 36W power adapters of the same level, with an average price of 30 yuan or more, are better than those of only 20 yuan or less.

Therefore, it is most vivid to describe the power adapter with the concept of "a penny for a penny". Although the price difference of a single electronic component is not very obvious, but for a power adapter using dozens of components, the price difference between the quality of the materials is more obvious. This is not difficult to explain why some power adapters of the same level of large manufacturers are more expensive than cottage products.

For the power adapter, from the initial design to the packaging sales, there must be a complete set of research and development, production and testing procedures. In order to ensure that the power adapter products that consumers finally get have stable performance and excellent quality, any link in the entire process is crucial, and these are the details that we consumers tend to overlook when choosing the power adapter.

Normally, after the production of a power adapter is completed, in order to check whether it meets the original design standards, it will also go through many links such as aging test, electrical performance test and high voltage test. And these test equipment and environment are also a part that requires manufacturers to invest heavily. At present, only some formal power plants have these conditions.

For consumers, the most important thing is the final price. However, for the current domestic power supply market where homogeneity is very serious, the difference between the two power adapters of the same wattage may be as high as 50% or more. When we choose the power adapter, we can not only use the "how much money per watt" standard to measure. We must also consider the brand, materials, workmanship, service and after-sales of the power adapter.

Best regards,

Ada Zheng