South Korea and China Leaning Toward Standard Mobile Phone Connectors

A few nights ago my dad and I were cursing the variety of connectors for cell phone chargers (don't ask). It's nice to know we aren't the only ones who are miffed: Both South Korea and China are mandating that handsets sold in those countries must use standardized charging/data ports. In particular, China is saying that this should be a USB port. Given the size of those markets and the significant number of Samsung phones (to name just one brand) around the world, these decisions could have a profound worldwide effect.

(Honestly, I don't know why more companies don't do this. Wouldn't using the same parts and cables drive overall manufacturing costs down?)