A couple of days ago, Xiaomi took the wraps off their latest flagship smartphone, the Xiaomi Mi 4. The handset looks stunning and according to Xiaomi, uses premium materials like metal in its build, thus giving it a more luxurious and sturdy feel. However there were many who thought that the handset resembled the iPhone 5s, or at least Apple’s iPhone lineup in general.
Well it seems that the comparison is one that Xiaomi’s Hugo Barra didn’t take too kindly. According to Barra, he claims that the handset was inspired by Apple’s designers, but at the same time denied that the company had blatantly copied its design. He also mentioned that it was stupid for companies to work around designs that are good just because they are trying to avoid litigation.
Barra blames the current patent system as one of the reasons why he believes the industry has been wasting a lot of time with design-arounds. “Design-arounds are stupid. Why would you design around something that’s good, rather than making it better? The industry wastes so much time and energy doing design-arounds. The world has to change — the patent system is completely flawed… We’re not afraid to stand up and say that.”
While over in the West, a product copied usually leads to lawsuits, but apparently over in China, it seems that they are taking the saying of, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” to heart, because having your product copied is one of the highest compliments one can pay you. In any case still no word on whether the Mi 4 will make its way stateside, but if it did, how well do you think it would be received?
Filed in . Read more about Xiaomi and Xiaomi Mi4.