Jawbone Says Xiaomi Copied Its Design

Now this is a familiar headline. Xiaomi has long been accused of copying designs by a variety of companies. It’s not called the “Apple of China” for nothing. This time around it is Jawbone that’s accusing the company of copying one of its designs. Xiaomi has obviously never agreed that it copies rivals’ designs and should it care to respond to Jawbone’s accusations, it’s likely to stick to the same line.

Apple’s design chief Jony Ive was once asked about what he thought of Xiaomi’s design efforts. He very bluntly used words like “lazy” and “theft” to describe what he thinks of Xiaomi’s contribution to design. I’m pretty sure he wouldn’t have changed his views after seeing the company’s first laptop – the Mi Notebook Air.

Infamous Swiss designer and Jawbone’s chief creative officer Yves Behar called out Xiaomi for “ripping off” the Jawbone Mini Jambox’s design. He said this in response to a claim that Xiaomi’s Bluetooth speaker looked very similar to the Jawbone speaker.

It’s not hard to spot the similarities in design when you line up the Jawbone Mini Jambox and Xiaomi Mi Square Box Bluetooth speakers side by side. Both devices offer similar functionality and do look alike, particularly when you consider the grille pattern, which is one of the biggest differentiating factors of Jawbone’s Jambox when compared to other Bluetooth speakers.

Xiaomi has not commented on this accusation yet.

Adnan Farooqui
Categories: Gadgets
Tags: jawbone, Xiaomi