Xiaomi MIUI6 Update Looks A Lot Like iOS7‏

Xiaomi is the fastest growing smartphone company in the world, even though it only sells phones in China and a few other countries. In 2013, the smartphone maker has 1.6 percent share, in 2014 that has pushed past 5 percent and knocked LG from fifth place.

There is plenty of speculation why Xiaomi is taking so long to broaden its market, one reason could be the threat of Apple. When looking at Xiaomi’s portfolio, it might come as a surprise how many of those items look exactly like Apple’s own products.

Unlike Samsung, who is still learning its lesson when it comes to Apple’s lawyers, Xiaomi appears to be fine with keeping the similarities between Apple. The Chinese company recently released MIUI 6, their latest Android skin update, and it looks an awful lot like iOS7.

Xiaomi still needs to live in the parameters of Android, but that does not mean the design has to look anything like Android. When comparing MIUI 6 to iOS 7, we see a lot of the same flat design touches, very evident on the compass, calculator and others apps.

It is not just the design that Xiaomi copies though, it is almost like the Chinese company wants to be Apple. They use the same sort of advertisements, at their 2013 keynote they use the classic “One last thing…” sign off and even the Xiaomi stores look identical to Apple’s.

That’s not to say Xiaomi is a bad company in terms of design, MIUI 6 looks really nice, even from a Western perspective. A lot of Chinese and Indian software choices do not look that appealing, but Xiaomi has found a good balance.

The issue will come eventually, when Apple finally sees Xiaomi as a real threat to their business. We just wonder if Xiaomi will be able to rid themselves of Apple’s taint before they launch in the United States and Europe.