In an interview with Bloomberg, Xiaomi vice president and former Google executive Hugo Barra spoke out in defence against copycat accusations that have been placed against the company.
According to Barra, all of the copycat accusations came from a single iPhone5-style chamfered edge on a Xiaomi device. He went on to say that the accusations were the result of a bias against Chinese companies.
“Yes, it does look like an iPhone 5 and that chamfered edge, by the way, is present in so many other devices… People couldn’t bring themselves to believe a Chinese company actually could be a world innovator, could build amazingly high-quality products.”
Barra was asked if the recent Mi Note looks like an iPhone 6 Plus. He proceeded to laugh it off and said “it’s white like an iPhone 6 Plus.” He said the accusations of copying weren’t fair because every smartphone looks like every other smartphone on the market.
Over the past four years, Chinese electronics company Xiaomi has managed to become the world’s third largest smartphone manufacturers, competing with companies like Apple, LG, and Samsung.
Xiaomi’s latest smartphones are the Mi Note and Mi Note Pro, designed to compete with the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus.
