If you visit emerging market countries you will come across nondescript Android smartphone that look identical to major devices but of course do not perform like them. Obviously, the most copied devices come from Apple, but rarely does a big established brand actually cop another, these devices are usually from small Chinese manufacturers nobody has heard of.
Yes, Apple accuses Samsung of stealing patents, but the Korean company does not outright copy Apple, no matter what some people say; in other words there is a distinct difference between a Samsung and an iPhone. However, one established player has made its fast reputation by copying other brands, and its name is Xiaomi.
Take a look at the main image to this article, for all intents and purposes it is an iPad, but actually it's not as this is a Xiaomi product. The company formed in 2010 and has come from nowhere to be the third biggest selling smartphone manufacturer in the world, behind only Samsung and Apple. The model of the company is to literally stand on the shoulders of giants and sell devices at affordable prices, admittedly with a solid quality to them.
Apple chief designer Jony Ive has been hugely critical of companies that copy Apple's hardware and in a recent Vanity Fair interview called it theft, "I think it's really straightforward: it really is theft, and it's lazy and I don't think it's OK at all."
He probably has a point because if you look at Xiaomi's devices, they tend to borrow beyond pastiche, with its smartphones looking like those of several competitors, including the iPhone.
Xiaomi CEO Lim Bin spoke to a Chinese news outlet and challenged Ive to use one of his company's devices before here makes a true judgement.
Xiaomi is a very open company, which would never force anyone to use its products. However, one can only judge Xiaomi's gadgets after he or she has used them," Lin said. "I'm very willing to give a Xiaomi cell phone to him as a present, and I look forward to hearing his remarks after he uses it.
Interestingly, considering Ive never discussed Xiaomi specifically, it is strange that Bin would come out and defend the company. It is almost as though he is admitting that his brand does copy other companies, but it's okay because the company makes a decent piece of kit. I doubt very much that Ive would change his stance even if he did get a Xiaomi as a present.
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