Xiaomi's Vice President for International Operations Hugo Barra came to Xiaomi's defense, for the second time, at the Wall street Journal Live Technology Conference in Laguna Beach California, when asked about the statement of Apple's Jonathan Ive regarding Xiaomi's Mi4 design as a "copy" of their iPhone 6 device, and how he was "not happy" with it, saying it's "theft and it's lazy."
During the conference, Barra speaks up and said, " Xiaomi is young, at four years old, and still working to expand beyond China into new markets such as India and Brazil, where its low-priced smartphones and tablets are intended to appeal to budget-conscious buyers. It's also trying to capitalize on a business model that revolves around selling more than 1,000 products at or near cost -- everything from mobile phones to accessories to television sets to stuffed animals -- in its quest to "make small amounts of money" on everything it offers. But don't dismiss it as an imitator, riding on design innovations brought to market by Apple with the iPhone and iPad." Xiaomi's VP added, "Our designers, our engineers, are inspired by great products and great design out there. In today's world, who isn't? Point me to a product in our industry that has a completely unique design language? You're not going to be able to find one."
On another note, the ex-googler admitted that he was indeed a "huge apple fan" and even dubbed the iPhone 6 as the "world's most beautiful smartphone ever designed." He said, "I think it's great that Apple took existing ideas that were very good and added their design twist on top, that's what they do. That's what we do."
To date, Xiaomi's products have been selling like hotcakes in China and in other countries such as Singapore, Taiwan, Malaysia, Singapore, and India. They take pride in selling their high quality products at a budget-friendly price. "We just fundamentally believe that when it costs you $200 to make something, you shouldn't sell it for $600...The business model is to make a little bit of money where we can. Innovation is not a luxury item. Innovation is for everyone," Barra remarked.
