India Plans to Try Out “Parallel Testing” for Electronic Devices
September 06, 2022 By Awanish Kumar
(Image Credit Google)
India plans to increase the speed of testing and safety approvals of electronic devices to decrease the time it takes for these products to reach the market. And to do so, the country intends to pilot “parallel testing” of electronic devices, including smartphones and earbuds.
It takes almost 20 weeks for consumer electronics to pass safety tests currently. However, a new methodology could help shorten that time to only three days. As a result, BIS (the Bureau of Indian Standards), India’s nodal agency that sets safety and quality standards, is considering piloting a project that doesn’t use the current sequential testing model, instead using parallel testing for electronic devices in the South Asian market.
Furthermore, Reuters reported that BIS held a meeting with officials from India’s technology ministry, MAIT industry group, and representatives from major electronic hardware companies like Apple and Samsung to discuss the new pilot project.
MAIT stated that earbuds would likely be the first devices to undergo the parallel testing model. But, BIS might consider implementing the new testing model to more products over time.
The Current Testing Model
Currently, India uses sequential testing in which an electronic device undergoes a series of tests one-by-one to receive the BIS certification. The certification is compulsory for all devices to be commercially available in India. But, with that methodology, it takes a lot of time for products to reach the market.
Nitin Kunkolienkar, the president emeritus of MAIT, revealed that the industry group suggested that the government reduce that time by considering a parallel testing model. It is a method in which a product is tested simultaneously for different parameters laid out by the agency. He claimed that with parallel testing, the testing time could reduce from 20 weeks to three days, depending on the product.
Bottom Line
Counterpoint, an analyst firm, reported that India is the second-largest smartphone market in the world, with a base of over 600 million users. In addition, many major electronics companies, like Apple, Samsung, Xiaomi, etc., compete for market share in the country. Therefore, many experts believe that speeding up electronic device testing and safety approvals would mean the products will reach the market, and hence customers, faster. Thus, a parallel testing method sounds pretty good.
By Awanish Kumar
I keep abreast of the latest technological developments to bring you unfiltered information about gadgets.