Xiaomi - page 2

Apple should sue Xiaomi for its blatant copying — but it won’t

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Xiaomi Mimoji look very familiar.
Mimoji is one of many products Xiaomi has ripped from Apple.
Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi has a history of shamelessly ripping off bigger brands, and nine times out of ten, its chosen target is Apple.

The Chinese company has previously cloned the iPhone, iPad, MacBook, and more — without a single shred of fear that it might one day feel the wrath of Apple’s legal department.

Xiaomi’s latest ripoff is its own version of Memoji, and it brazenly stole Apple’s own commercials to promote it on a number of retail channels this week.

Here’s how Xiaomi gets away with it.

Copycat Xiaomi steals Apple ads to promote its Memoji clone

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Apple-Memoji-ad
This looks familiar.
Photo: Apple.

Xiaomi’s new Memoji clone isn’t the first product it has shamelessly stolen from Apple. But it might just be its worst ripoff to date.

That’s not because Mimoji and Memoji sound exactly the same, or because the character designs are nearly identical. It’s because Xiaomi brazenly stole Apple’s commercials to promote it.

Xiaomi puts a different spin on folding phones

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Xiaomi
This might be the best looking folding phone yet.
Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi is the latest smartphone maker to tease its upcoming folding smartphone with a short new video that shows its double folding display in action.

While Samsung’s Galaxy Fold and Huawei’s Mate X each have one folding section, the Xiaomi’s Mi Fold goes from tablet to phone mode by folding down two sides of the screen. This leaves you with a nearly edgeless phone display that’s a bit wider.

Watch it in action:

Apple’s iPhone sales problem isn’t limited to China

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iPhone sales
Critics say Apple needs to build more affordable iPhones.
Photo: Apple

China is not the only part of the world where Apple’s iPhone is losing market share to hard-charging Chinese brands.

Sales of the iPhone are falling off in Europe and Thailand, the second-biggest smartphone market in Southeast Asia, where shipments fell by more than 50 percent.

Samsung teases folding phone ahead of February event

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Galaxy S10
The S10 is nearly here.
Photo: Samsung

The folding future of smartphones is nearly here.

Samsung is set to unveil its folding Galaxy S10 smartphone at an event next week, but the company is already giving fans a little glimpse of what to expect. In a new video to hype the event, Samsung shows off the fold of the new S10 and it looks like it could be pretty amazing.

Watch the future unfold:

iPhones sales in China dropped 13% in 2018

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iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
iPhone sales were starting to pickup in China.
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

Investors just received a worrying report about iPhone sales in China ahead of Apple’s pivotal 2018 holiday earnings report slated for Tuesday, January 29.

Apple warned investors earlier this year that iPhone sales in Greater China came in lower than expected. We’ll have to wait for the official numbers from Apple tomorrow, but according to data firm Canalys, total smartphone sales dropped 15% year-over-year in Q4 2018 with Apple taking one of the biggest hits.

Xiaomi just convinced me I need a foldable phone

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Xiaomi foldable phone
We're not exactly clamoring for one.
Photo: Lin Bin/Xioami

“What’s the point of a foldable phone?” That’s the question the Cult of Mac team was asking when Samsung confirmed its first is coming this year. But after seeing Xiaomi’s impressive foldable phone prototype, I really, really want one.

Check out the teaser video below and try telling me it doesn’t look awesome.

iPhone triumphs over local rivals on record Chinese shopping day

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iPhone sales are finally rebounding in China
Tim Cook looking happy in China. As he very much should be!
Photo: Tim Cook/Weibo

The iPhone outsold Chinese rivals on Alibaba platforms during China’s Singles Day on November 11. Singles’ Day is a holiday in which people not in a relationship buy themselves gifts.

Alibaba, the e-commerce giant that is the equivalent of China’s Amazon, sold a record $30.8 billion in gross merchandise during the day. Apple’s position as number one mobile brand is therefore pretty darn impressive!

Xiaomi kills the notch with its new bezel-free smartphone

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Xiaomi
No notch to see here.
Photo: Xiaomi

One of the biggest Apple copycats finally found a way to bring some innovation of its own to the smartphone game.

Xiaomi unveiled its new Mi Mix 3 phone today that ditches the camera notch Apple popularized in favor of a front camera array that slides out of the display. The end result is a smartphone with a screen-to-body ratio of 93.4 percent and it actually looks pretty cool.

Check out how the camera slides out:

Apple dominates global wearables sales with only one product

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What cool new features are hidden inside that slimmer Apple Watch Series 4 frame? [Mockup]
People around the world buy lots of different types of wearable computers. But not enough to outsell the Apple Watch.
Photo illustration: Graham Bower/Cult of Mac

We already know that Apple sells more smartwatches than everyone else. But there are other types of wearable computers. Do companies sell enough of these other types to overtake the Apple Watch? In a word…Nope.

But the second largest wearable maker might surprise you. Especially considering how close behind Apple they are.

Apple’s Android rivals are going all-in on folding phones in 2019

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This early prototype Samsung foldable phone suggests how the Galaxy X might look.
This prototype Samsung folding phone could be a harbinger of many, many to follow.
Screenshot: Samsung

At least four big smartphone makers are reportedly prepping foldable models for 2019. This radical new design could reinvigorate the slowing phone market, hence the widespread interest.

But Apple is a notable holdout. This means it could end up being the only top 5 phone maker not releasing a foldable phone next year.

Huawei steals Apple’s crown as No. 2 smartphone maker

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Chinese company Huawei wants the media buzz that would come with releasing the world's first foldable phone.
This is the first quarter since 2010 that Apple hasn't been in the no. 1 or 2 spots.
Photo: Kārlis Dambrāns / Flickr CC

Apple just smashed expectations yet again with another monster quarterly earnings report. But that’s not enough to stop Huawei from stealing Apple’s crown as the world’s second-largest smartphone maker, based on number of handsets shipped.

The figures come from analysts at IDC, who note that Apple shipped a total of 342 million iPhones in the quarter, compared to Huawei’s 54.2 million units. Market leader Samsung shipped a massive 71.5 million units during that same period.

One-time Apple copycat Xiaomi goes public

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Xiaomi Mi Mix 2
Its debut wasn't an unequivocal success, however.
Photo: Xiaomi

Chinese smartphone manufacturer and occasional Apple tribute act Xiaomi has made its debut on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange — officially making it the world’s third largest phonemaker.

Xiaomi is one of the world’s most hotly anticipated stock market listings, having risen to prominence in developing markets, such as China. CEO Lei Jun, who was present at the company’s IPO launch today, has admitted that his founding the company was heavily inspired by the story of Steve Jobs.

Smartphone sales decline for first time ever in 2017

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iPhone X
iPhone X didn't come out early enough to give Apple a sales boost.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The world may have passed its peak smartphone moment last year.

Smartphone sales data released today from the number crunchers at Gartner revealed that worldwide smartphone sales declined for the first time ever during the last quarter of 2017. Both Apple and Samsung saw their market share decline just slightly, but good news could be on the horizon.

iPhone will grab more market share as Samsung falls in 2018

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iPhone plus model next to iPhone X
New iPhones will require millions of new displays.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

The iPhone will gain market share as Samsung loses its grip in 2018, according to new predictions.

Apple is one of just three companies that are expected to see growth this year following weaker-than-expected smartphones sales in late 2017. TrendForce expects total handset production to grow just 2.8 percent, down from the 5 percent previously expected.

Xiaomi can’t trademark its iPad ripoff

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Xiaomi pic
One of Xiaomi's soundalike "Mi Pad" tablets.
Photo: Xiaomi

Xiaomi, the Chinese company which once specialized in brazen iPhone ripoffs, has gained its own identity in the past few years — but that doesn’t mean that it no longer rips off Apple’s intellectual property.

Fortunately, Apple just gained some struck back, persuading an EU court not to grant Xiaomi a trademark for its “Mi Pad” tablet name.

Pressure mounts on Apple Watch Series 3 as shipments fall

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apple watch bands
Apple Watch Series 3 needs to be special.
Photo: Apple

Apple Watch Series 3 is under pressure to recapture a larger share of the wearables market after Apple was overtaken by Xiaomi and Fitbit last quarter.

Despite wearables shipments increasing 8 percent year-over-year in the second quarter of 2017, Apple fell to third place, shifting just 2.7 million units.

One-time Apple ripoff company Xiaomi is now leading the wearables market

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Apple Watch goal
Apple is de-throned, but it could be back on top soon.
Photo: Ste Smith/Cult of Mac

Xiaomi, the Chinese company which once specialized in brazen iPhone ripoffs, has overtaken Apple and Fitbit to become the number one manufacturer of wearables, based on shipments.

The news comes from a new Strategy Analytics report, which claims that Xiaomi shipped 3.7 million wearable devices during Q2 this year, taking the number one spot. Fitbit shipped 3.4 million to take second place, while Apple shipped 2.8 million for third. Should these numbers be correct, that also means that Apple shipped its 30 millionth Apple Watch at some point over the past three months.

The next great Android phone will have a 360-degree camera

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Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Essential is looking to disrupt the Android market.
Photo: Andy Rubin

Essential inc, the new tech company founded by the godfather of Android, Andy Rubin, is set to unveil its first product at the end of this month.

A new Twitter account created by the company teased the announcement today with its first ever tweet to hype what many anticipate to be a new Android smartphone. Rubin shot followers a teaser in March, but now Essential is busting out its own glimpses of the smartphone that may include a 360-degree camera.

Godfather of Android teases new bezel-free smartphone

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xiaomi-mi-mix
Essential Products' first smartphone may look a bit like this.
Photo: Xiaomi

Bezel-free screens are set to become the biggest trend in Android smartphones this year, if a new teaser from the creator of Android is any indicator.

Former Google employee and godfather of Android, Andy Rubin, tweeted an image this afternoon hinting at the smartphone he’s been working on at his new company. You can only see a corner of the screen, but it looks pretty intriguing.

Take a look: