Xiaomi Vice President: It is nonsense to say Xiaomi copied Apple

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Xiaomi is known for producing high-quality Android smartphones that are cheaper than Apple's iPhone or Samsung's smartphones. Many people accuse Xiaomi of copying Apple's designs. Apple's chief design officer Jony Ive even declared at a Xiaomi launch event that companies that copy Apple's designs are actually "plagiarizing."

However, Hugo Barra, who left Google in 2013 to join Xiaomi as vice president, said Xiaomi had never copied anyone. Barra said all the accusations against Xiaomi were due to the fact that the Mi 4 looked a bit like the iPhone 5. He explained the similarity in an interview with Bloomberg.

"All the accusations against Xiaomi are attributed to a particular smartphone model (the Mi 4), which people said looked like an iPhone 5. When I first saw it, I have to admit that I felt the same way. But by the way, this design is found in many other phones," Barra said.

Bloomberg reporter said that a lot of criticism surrounding Xiaomi is related to the overall look and feel of Xiaomi products, and they are often compared with Apple products. In this regard, Barra refuted: "If you criticize us from this point, I think it is unfair. There is no doubt that today's smartphones seem to look similar. You have to have curves, you have to have edges and corners, and at least have a home button to some extent. This is the characteristic of interactive design. So I don't think one company can own all these features of a smartphone."

There are many reasons why Xiaomi is called the "Chinese Apple" besides its similarity to Apple products. Xiaomi co-founder and CEO Lei Jun's stage presence is very similar to Apple's late founder Steve Jobs. Xiaomi has its own marketing trick: using Apple-like methods to attract users.

Barra insisted that in the coming months, we will see the opposite trend, with more companies taking inspiration from Xiaomi. "I think if you look back at the ideas that we've introduced in the last 12 months, a lot of them were original to us," he said. "I think you're going to see more of the opposite trend, to be honest with you, where people are taking inspiration from how we build new products."