[NewsPoster]

[Update: the clone is actually from a company called KakaTech, not Xiaomi] If you've ever wondered why some Chinese computer and mobile device firms such as Xiaomi -- now attacking Samsung successfully in its home market of China -- haven't yet entered any major first-world markets like the US, it's because such companies have a distinct tendency to model their offerings as direct copies of popular Apple products, to a level that puts even Samsung's "shameless" copying to shame. A new notebook from KakaTech, another Chinese firm, is a perfect example: it's a complete design clone of Apple's MacBook Air

Correction: the original version of this article incorrectly stated that the unit, which does exist as a clone of the MBA but from a different company, was coming soon from Xiaomi. While this article's general comments about Xiaomi's Apple-based designs remain accurate, it isn't responsible for the image or product seen above, which is coming from another company. Our apologies to Xiaomi for the widely-reported error, based on a Photoshopped photo and false report from a Chinese website. We have opted to edit the original article to reflect the revelation of the true maker of the product, while still focusing on the problem of facsimile makers like Xiaomi and others.

While the visual resemblance of the machine to Apple's ultra-lightweight portable is unmistakable, the unit is unlikely to be made of the same materials, or to the same level of quality as the genuine Apple product. The distinctively-shaped case is likely to be made of plastic painted to look like metal rather than the genuine aircraft-grade aluminium used in the real MacBook Air, and there is an orange power button and other minor markings to distinguish it from its design source. However, the Kaka i5 knock-off does sport a genuine Intel Haswell processor -- apparently the company has not yet found a way to mimic processors yet -- and comes with up to 16GB of RAM for about half the entry-level price of the MacBook Air.

Xiaomi is the most widely-known example of a Chinese firm that has based its success on copying Apple. It released its first smartphone in 2011, modeled on the iPhone, and has quickly become one of the top five manufacturers of smartphones in the world, although it is presently limited to largely the "Greater China" market, with a few outlets in India and plans for Brazil. The company makes other devices that do not blatantly copy Apple designs, aimed at the low-end market -- something that has seriously eaten into Samsung's marketshare in southeast Asia. The company makes other devices, such as tablets that look exactly like iPads, as well.

Even their CEO, Lei Jun, has shown a penchant for dressing similarly to Steve Jobs in the past, and copies Apple's tendency to make the company's keynotes into major press events. If KakaTech or Xiaomi began selling in countries with strong protection of intellectual property and design patents such as the US, it would likely be quickly sued by Apple -- but for now, most of the damage they are doing with their decent-quality but cut-rate electronics is hurting Samsung rather than the iPhone maker. Some even argue that such knock-offs are creating a "halo effect" that make genuine Apple products even more desirable, since the cloners are tacitly admitting that the best design they can come up with are Apple's.

The MacBook Air-alike is said to run a custom version of Linux. KakaTech has yet to announce anything official regarding the laptop, but competes against other companies that have copied Xiaomi's canny strategy of selling its counterfeits to the low-profit but significantly larger low-to-mid-end market in its selected availability areas, mostly either China exclusively or countries with a growing middle class but an enormous lower class, such as Brazil, India and others in the southeast Asia region.

Xiaomi's Lei has even said that without any major expansion of territories, Xiaomi could soon take the third-largest mobile manufacturer spot based on the sheer size of the markets to which it caters. The company isn't really making any money, but hopes to build its future through volume -- and, at the early stage at least, copying others' designs. While Apple has not yet moved against the best-known of the copycats, it has made its feelings clear, as expressed by design chief Sir Jonathan Ive: "I don't see it as flattery ... I think it's theft, and it's lazy."

[Truthsayer]

I'm sure Apple would love to get these shameless copycat creeps into court; but the problem is that they are likely to face retaliation from the Chinese government which could jeopardize their very important Chinese operations making the proposition just not worth it.

[Truthsayer]

I propose a name change for the company: Xioami-too!

[Spheric Harlot]

HOAX!

https://www.techinasia.com/xiaomi-la...e-fake-photos/

[coffeetime]

Their fake photo makes sense. No need to photo-shoot their own product. They just need minor Photoshop retouch on Apple product photos. Done in 2 minutes. Next, Lei Jun will claim he is reincarnation of Steve Jobs and turns his corporate building into a flying saucer shape. Counterfeit transformation completed!

The turtleneck is Photoshopped...

[climacs]

while this may be a hoax... the ultimate comeback to fandroids and sufferers of Apple Derangement Syndrome is... you don't see copycats like Xiaomi trying to rip off Samsung designs. It's always Apple that they want to imitate.

[Spheric Harlot]

Yep. There's a huge difference between ripping off a high-end geek market niche product that hardly anybody's ever used or seen in detail in 1990, and swamping the market in knock-off, and ripping off the highly visible market leader of an established mass market in 2010.

[Grendelmon]

"aircraft-grade aluminum"

...rolls eyes.

[elroth]

That would be "paper-aircraft-grade-aluminum" - with a deluxe model made of balsa wood.

[just a poster]

Are these manufactured in the same factories as Apple's products?