Samsung, Android OEMs ‘created a poor copy’ of the iPhone –Apple exec says

Apple’s marketing chief Greg Joswiak in Wall Street Journal’s new documentary says Samsung and other Android manufacturers of poorly copying Apple’s tech.

In one segment of the WSJ documentary, they reflected on the trend of Android smartphones getting bigger displays years ahead than the iPhone did. When Joswiak was asked of how big of a factor Android makers, particularly Samsung had on Apple at the time, he said “They were annoying.”

“They were annoying because they ripped off our technology. They took the innovations that we had created and created a poor copy of it, and just put a bigger screen around it. We were none too pleased,” Joswiak said.

Greg Joswiak talking to Wall Street Journal | Photo/ (Screenshot) WSJ

Although undeniably, Samsung also had significant advancements in the smartphone landscape. Apple is not wrong as Samsung was among the pioneer in pushing larger displays. The Galaxy S4 debuted in early 2013 with a 5-inch display while iPhone 5 lingered on with only a 4-inch screen at the time.

Furthermore, the documentary cited a Samsung spokeswoman that they were first to introduce devices that have bigger OLED screens, and water/ dust resistance capabilities.

And Samsung has also been brewing foldable smartphones that other Android makers followed suit.

Previously, Apple and Samsung had an extensive legal battle that almost lasted a decade. In 2011, Apple sued Samsung over patent infringement alleging Samsung copied iPhone’s design to their Galaxy lineup. Jumping to 2018, Apple won the patent battle and received hundreds millions of US dollars.

The WSJ’s full documentary titled ‘The iPhone at 15: An Inside Look at How Apple Transformed a Generation’ that takes retrospective discussions on the iPhone over the years.

The 20-minute documentary was released just a day ahead of the iPhone’s anniversary since its launch on June 29, 2007, and is now streaming on WSJ’s website.