Xiaomi wants people to stop copying the phones it copied from Apple

I can’t help but laugh at the irony of Xiaomi having to fight counterfeiters. The company is well known for blatantly ripping off Apple’s hardware, software, and even sense of style and customer building. Thanks to copying other companies, Xiaomi has managed to become one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world. However, the company claims it could be far more successful if there weren’t so many people trying to copy the smarthpones it copied from Apple. 

Xiaomi Corp., the Chinese smartphone vendor that overtook Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. in the world’s largest market, now faces another foe: counterfeiters. Sales of the company’s Mi Power Bank battery pack for smartphones hit 14.6 million units last year, less than half what the total should have been, Chief Executive Officer Lei Jun said at a press conference at the company’s headquarters in Beijing Thursday. “What is the biggest problem? There are many fakes,” Lei said. “If there were no counterfeits, our sales would be double or triple. The product has been recognized by everyone.” Five years since its founding in 2010, Xiaomi has grown into China’s top smartphone vendor and — at $45 billion — the world’s most valuable startup. Now, it must handle growing pains from counterfeits to perceptions that investments in smart-device startups risk compromising strategic focus, according to Lei.