Apple is no doubt one of the biggest Tech companies in the world. Their gadgets (laptops, smartphones, music players, accessories, softwares etc) are always of top quality… and often replicated by other top Tech companies and rivals.
It is in this light that we shall be looking at times when Apple have been copied in terms of products design and innovations.
Product Design
The iPhone 6 was one of Apple’s best designed phone in the history of iPhones. The device was revolutionary in numerous number of ways. The device’s appearance and aesthetic was darn appealing that even the former Vice President of Android (now Vice President at Xiaomi), Hugo Barra was blatantly impressed by the “unique design language” that the device carried and crowned the iPhone 6 as the “most beautiful smartphone ever built”.
To a very large extent, I agree with Barra. Because looking at Apple’s smartphone releases from 2 to 3 years back, one would notice that subsequent iPhone models after September 2014 all followed the iPhone 6’s design model.
When the iPhone 6 was released, tons of original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) wasted no time in going into their respective design rooms and factories to create their own “version” of the iPhone 6. Some were exact clone of the iPhone 6, while some were just “iPhone 6 inspired”, like some reviewers would call it. Irrespective, be it a clone or an inspiration was taken or borrowed, Apple was copied and I don’t think the company will be angered. That’s what Kings do – they inspire.
Devices like the SoPhone I6, VPhone I6, Texet iX-maxi, Dakele Big Cola 3 are perfect clones of the iPhone 6 – more like the twin sister of the iPhone 6. Though these smartphone brands are the industry’s “nobody” but what if I told you that there are giants in the gadgets industry that are also involved in the ‘act’ of copying Apple.
Top smartphone manufacturers like Oppo (who sold the highest number of smartphone in China in 2016) is a perfect example. The OEM took a cue from Apple’s iPhone 6 design to make devices like the Oppo R9, Oppo R7, and Oppo R9 Plus. Likewise, the Oppo R11 have also been labelled as an “iPhone 7 clone” countless number of times.
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Two of the biggest smartphone manufacturers in the world, Lenovo (on the Lenovo S90 Sisley) and Huawei (on the Huawei P9) have also being caught in the act.
One of China’s best smartphone manufacturer, Xiaomi is yet another culprit. The OEM recently unveiled the Xiaomi Mi A1 dual camera flagship smartphone. The device is a 5.5 inch beauty and resembles the iPhone 7 Plus so much (design-wise) that Business Insider says it is as though the Xiaomi Mi A1 was fitted in an iPhone 7 Plus shell and the Apple logo was replaced with a fingerprint sensor.
I guess it’s only a matter of time before we begin to come across clones of the iPhone 8 and iPhone X, right?
