The number of wireless charging industry organisations is down from three to two-- the Alliance for Wireless Power (A4WP) and Power Matters Alliance (PMA) plan to merge into a single entity.

The announcement follows a February 2014 collaboration agreement between the two organisations.

“The ‘standards war’ narrative presents a false choice,” the A4WP says.  “Consider that the typical mass-market smartphone contains a multiplicity of radio technologies (Bluetooth, NFC, WiFi, 3G, LTE) each built around a vibrant ecosystem, whereas other devices are single-mode (Bluetooth headset).  The A4WP PMA merger is in the same spirit-- enable the market to apply technologies to their best use cases.”

While the entity still waits for an actual a name, it hosts a number of global consumer brands, supply chain and market leaders, namely AT&T, Broadcom, Duracell, Flextronics, Gill Electronics, Integrated Device Technologies (IDT), Intel, Powermat, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Samsung Electro-Mechanics, Starbucks and WiTricity.

For the curious, A4WP and PMA use similar, if different, charging technologies. The PMA was first on the market with inductive charging, while the A4WP pushes a technology dubbed magnetic resonance.

However the merger does not mean peace will reign over the wireless charging industry-- not when a third (now second) group is still around. The Wireless Power Consortium names 200 members in its ranks, including Philips and Microsoft, and supports the Qi charging standard.

Will the major wireless charging groups eventually team up into a single super-entity? "We are ready, willing and able to have those conversations,” A4WP member Qualcomm tells the Wall Street Journal. So don't rule out such a possibility, then.

Go A4WP and PMA Agree to Merge

Go Two Rival Groups Pushing Wireless Charging Declare Peace (WSJ.com)