The history of copying (oh, sorry - creative borrowing) in business, for sure, has more than one thousand years. And it is inherent not only to Chinese companies, as is commonly believed everywhere. If you remember how the same Korean (and before them - Japanese) companies started, then it turns out a lot of "surprising" facts of such borrowing. In the case of the mobile phone market, the design of the iPhone is an unattainable industry standard. This can be argued bang your head against the wall, but this is true - all phone manufacturers dream of making the design of their devices as attractive as possible for buyers. Therefore, even eminent global companies act in the spirit of the popular Soviet anecdote during Perestroika: “let them slander” and impudently copy borrow (and, of course, “creatively rethink”) the design of the iPhone in their phones.
The history of copying (oh, sorry - creative borrowing) in business, for sure, has more than one thousand years. And it is inherent not only to Chinese companies, as is commonly believed everywhere. If you remember how the same Korean (and before them - Japanese) companies started, then it turns out many "surprising" facts of such borrowing. In the case of the mobile phone market, the design of the iPhone is an unattainable industry standard. This can be argued bang your head against the wall, but it's true - all phone manufacturers dream of making the design of their devices as attractive as possible for buyers. Therefore, even eminent global companies act in the spirit of the popular Soviet anecdote during Perestroika: “let them slander” and impudently copy borrow (and, of course, “creatively rethink”) the design of the iPhone in their phones.
Of course, all these conditional "clones" of the iPhone are running Android and, in addition to the appearance of the Apple smartphone, do not copy anything else. In practice, it is possible to make an interface completely copying iOS (with restrictions, of course), but well-known manufacturers still do not stoop to such a step. Preferring to divert the attention of buyers from the resemblance to the iPhone with all sorts of marketing and advertising moves. But you can’t throw words out of the song - by a funny (albeit natural) coincidence, all companies that have released such smartphones are of Chinese origin. Isn't that why, by the way, their success in the global market has become so significant? - If someone is not in the know, then Lenovo, Huawei and Xiaomi close the top five largest smartphone manufacturers. Therefore, the word "Chinese" in relation to the manufacturer of phones can be safely classified today as having lost its ironic meaning.
Huawei P6
The first major company to openly borrow Apple's design was Huawei with its Huawei Ascend P6 smartphone. Now on sale it is easier to meet his heir - model Huawei Ascend P7. Their design is reminiscent of the iPhone 5. And although the device does not have a recognizable button on the front panel, its design is difficult to confuse with something else.
Lenovo S90
Looking at the whole thing, Lenovo also did not stand aside from an important design trend and released its Lenovo S90 smartphone, which looks like a brand new iPhone 6. Ironically (I am far from thinking of linking these two facts directly), at the same time with the release of this model, Lenovo took third place in the global ranking table of smartphone manufacturers.
Xiaomi Mi4
Maybe at first glance, an inexperienced eye will not be able to draw a parallel between the design of the iPhone Xiaomi Mi4, but you can’t fool us on the chaff - just look at the ends of the device to find not just a similarity, but the very design borrowing. Of course, we have nothing against such a “designer find”, but you can’t hide an awl in a bag.
Meizu MX4
If in previous cases one can still talk about some “accidents”, “creative rethinking” (or I still like a win-win option - I didn’t figure it out and “it seemed to me”), then Meizu acted just like handsome men, making the front panel of their Meizu MX4 is as similar as possible (up to the exact copying of the color scheme) to the iPhone 6. Even the hardware key was made round. And look at the sidewalls - well, isn't it worthy of some order named Ctrl C + Ctrl V? Or at least a diploma named after two designers with a pencil and a sheet of paper?
Fly Tornado Slim
Speaking of Fly Tornado Slim, we, of course, mean its Chinese manufacturer - the Gionee Elife S5.1 model, which ended up in the Guinness Book of Records due to its record-breaking small thickness. And while the rear panel may not evoke any associations with Apple products either, the ends of the device unmistakably indicate where the designers of this device drew inspiration.
Texet iX-maxi
But the device sold in Russia under the name Texet iX-maxi came closest to the original. On the website of the manufacturer / distributor, its design is simply and bluntly called “trend”. There is a suspicion that from a distance of a couple of meters (especially if you use a case or cover the Texet logo with your hand), an inexperienced person will easily confuse the device with the iPhone 6. What buyers will shamelessly use on the eve of February 14th. This turned out to be a good “anti-crisis” proposal for the market.
P.S. Instead of an epilogue and morality, I propose to discuss in the comments the similarity of the upcoming Nokia N1 tablet with the latest iPad Mini 3.
