Chinese mobile device maker Xiaomi made a statement during a live conference Tuesday claiming that they are not imitators and are not stealing Apple Inc.'s designs, CNET reported
"I think it's great that Apple took existing ideas that were very good and added their design twist on top. That's what they do. That's what we do," Hugo Barra, the vice president of the Beijing-based company, said at The Wall Street Journal's Live Technology Conference at Laguna Beach, California.
Xiaomi's statement was a response to Apple's head of design Jony Ive's criticism on mobile phone designs made by supposed copycat companies such as Xiaomi in an interview with Vanity Fair.
"I don't see it as flattery," Ive said. "When you're doing something for the first time, you don't know it's going to work. You spend seven or eight years working on something, and then it's copied. I have to be honest, the first thing I can think, all those weekends that I could have at home with my family but didn't. I think it's theft, and it's lazy."
Xiaomi is a young company and only four years old, but has become the world's fifth largest smartphone maker in the world, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Xiaomi ranked behind companies such as Samsung, Apple, Huawei and Lenovo.
"We just fundamentally believe that when it costs you $200 to make something, you shouldn't sell it for $600. The business model is to make a little bit of money where we can," Barra said. "Innovation is not a luxury item. Innovation is for everyone."
Xiaomi has also become the best-selling smartphone provider in China in the second quarter of the year, according to The Wall Street Journal. They now have plans to expand their business to India, Indonesia, Brazil, Mexico and other parts of Asia, as well as the US and Europe if possible.
However, Xiaomi might face patent infringements if it were to expand in America and Europe, The Economist stated. Ben Qiu of Cooley, an American law firm, believed that Xiaomi is in dangerous waters of "potential patent-infringement claims on the international markets."
Barra said that he was not worried about potential lawsuits and patent litigations, and that these rumors did not affect the company's plans to launch internationally.
Barra claimed that while he was a fan of Apple, the Apple iPhone 6 borrowed its "design language" from smartphone maker HTC and was inspired by similar features found on Android.
"Our designers, our engineers, are inspired by great products and great design out there," Barra said. "Point me to a product in our industry that has a completely unique design language? You're not going to be able to find one."
