Click to Skip Ad
Closing in...

Xiaomi says Jony Ive needs to test Xiaomi’s Apple knockoffs before criticizing them

Published Oct 13th, 2014 6:36PM EDT
Xiaomi vs Apple Design
Image: Xiaomi

If you buy through a BGR link, we may earn an affiliate commission, helping support our expert product labs.

After Jony Ive took a hard stance in a recent interview against companies that copy the design of various Apple products, including hardware and software, Xiaomi boss Lin Bin issued a response to Chinese media, The Register reports, inviting Apple’s design guru to try Xiaomi products before criticizing them.

FROM EARLIER: Way before the iconic iPhone, this strange contraption was Jony Ive’s first award-winning phone design

“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.”

Xiaomi has denied copycat claims in the past, even though certain Xiaomi products including tablets, smartphones and even certain operating system features closely resemble Apple’s iPad, iPhone and iOS, respectively. Even some of Xiaomi’s press images for products are very similar to the pictures Apple uses to promote its devices.

“I think it’s really straightforward: it really is theft, and it’s lazy and I don’t think it’s OK at all,” Ive said in an interview with Vanity Fair, without explicitly naming Xiaomi as one of the companies that’s copying Apple’s designs.

Meanwhile, Xiaomi devices are selling like hot cakes in China, giving headaches to both Apple and Samsung.

Chris Smith Senior Writer

Chris Smith has been covering consumer electronics ever since the iPhone revolutionized the industry in 2008. When he’s not writing about the most recent tech news for BGR, he brings his entertainment expertise to Marvel’s Cinematic Universe and other blockbuster franchises.

Outside of work, you’ll catch him streaming almost every new movie and TV show release as soon as it's available.