Competition in China's smartphone market heated up recently,
when Huawei's chief executive of consumer products, Richard Yu
Chengdong, reportedly said "some competitors took our
intellectual property and renamed it as their own". Not naming
names of course, the comment has been presumed to refer to a
foldable phone patent, kick-starting a public spat between Huawei
and Xiaomi.
The comment
was reportedly in response to Xiaomi's refined "keel
hinge" design, employed in its foldable phone, which Huawei
argues is a copy of its dual-track, wing-shaped hinge on the Mate
X3, X4 and X5 models. Xiaomi has denied the allegations, reportedly
stating that they were "completely out of line with
facts", which amounts to "defaming a rival and misleading
the public".
