Apple forces Meizu to halt sales of iPhone-lookalike
Apple has pressured the Chinese smartphone maker into halting production and freezing sales of its M8 smartphone due to alleged patent violations.
For years, Meizu has been producing phones with a similar look and feel to Apple's iPhone. Though the company's offerings were never officially sold in the U.S., Meizu has garnered a loyal following, especially in its home country of China.
Earlier this week, Meizu CEO Jack Wong reportedly expressed frustration over Apple lawyers using "unreasonable negotiation tactics" when dealing with Meizu, according to Engadget. Apple's legal department went after Meizu for its M8 touchscreen smartphone, which the Cupertino, Calif., company alleges has "an appearance roughly similar" to that of its iPhone.
Wong then announced on Meizu's online forums that the company would cease production and stop sales of the M8, due to Apple's efforts to enforce its patents through China's Intellectual Property Office, Electronista reports. The company's next-generation M9 smartphone, which will run a custom version of Android, could also be delayed if the local government moves to shut down factories.
Apple had reportedly reached a deal with Meizu to halt production of the M8, but then "allegedly turned on the deal" and pressed for a sales ban as well, the report notes. Wong has threatened that the company may resort to filing its own court case if pressed too hard. In postings to the company's official forum, he wrote that he would cope with the halt in production, but not with the sales freeze, which could jeopardize Meizu's resellers.
According to Electronista, early mockups of Meizu's M8 smartphone emerged within weeks of Apple's unveiling of the original iPhone in 2007 and bore a striking resemblance to Apple's entry into the wireless industry. Updates to the final design of the M8, which was released in late 2008, closely resembled the newly released iPhone 3G.
With Apple aggressively going after the Chinese market, it will need to protect its intellectual property. Some manufacturers in China are quick to copy designs of popular devices, especially ones from Apple, often selling them as 'knock-offs' on the grey market.
Meanwhile, Apple's brand recognition in China has seen steady improvement. Sales of the iPhone 4 in China appear to be healthy, topping 100,000 in the first few days after launch, with over 100,000 more pre-orders to be fulfilled in the month of October. In February, the Cupertino, Calif., company revealed plans to open 25 retail stores in China in the next two years. Apple's third and fourth Chinese retail stores opened to long lines on Sept. 25, the same day as the iPhone 4 launch.
For years, Meizu has been producing phones with a similar look and feel to Apple's iPhone. Though the company's offerings were never officially sold in the U.S., Meizu has garnered a loyal following, especially in its home country of China.
Earlier this week, Meizu CEO Jack Wong reportedly expressed frustration over Apple lawyers using "unreasonable negotiation tactics" when dealing with Meizu, according to Engadget. Apple's legal department went after Meizu for its M8 touchscreen smartphone, which the Cupertino, Calif., company alleges has "an appearance roughly similar" to that of its iPhone.
Wong then announced on Meizu's online forums that the company would cease production and stop sales of the M8, due to Apple's efforts to enforce its patents through China's Intellectual Property Office, Electronista reports. The company's next-generation M9 smartphone, which will run a custom version of Android, could also be delayed if the local government moves to shut down factories.
Apple had reportedly reached a deal with Meizu to halt production of the M8, but then "allegedly turned on the deal" and pressed for a sales ban as well, the report notes. Wong has threatened that the company may resort to filing its own court case if pressed too hard. In postings to the company's official forum, he wrote that he would cope with the halt in production, but not with the sales freeze, which could jeopardize Meizu's resellers.
According to Electronista, early mockups of Meizu's M8 smartphone emerged within weeks of Apple's unveiling of the original iPhone in 2007 and bore a striking resemblance to Apple's entry into the wireless industry. Updates to the final design of the M8, which was released in late 2008, closely resembled the newly released iPhone 3G.
With Apple aggressively going after the Chinese market, it will need to protect its intellectual property. Some manufacturers in China are quick to copy designs of popular devices, especially ones from Apple, often selling them as 'knock-offs' on the grey market.
Meanwhile, Apple's brand recognition in China has seen steady improvement. Sales of the iPhone 4 in China appear to be healthy, topping 100,000 in the first few days after launch, with over 100,000 more pre-orders to be fulfilled in the month of October. In February, the Cupertino, Calif., company revealed plans to open 25 retail stores in China in the next two years. Apple's third and fourth Chinese retail stores opened to long lines on Sept. 25, the same day as the iPhone 4 launch.
Comments
Even the way they have the headphones designed and just check out the M8 spec page. Looks like it was copied directly from Apple.
To be honest, they must have the technical know how to slap the phone together but must lack even a single creative idea of their own, which is quite sad.
here is a link to a video review mp4 nation did for it last year: http://mp4nation.net/blog/2009/02/me...-video-review/
Here is a link to an engadget gallery for the Meizo M9 interface which is even more like the iphone even down to the cut and paste function. http://cn.engadget.com/photos/meizu-m9-new-ui-0/
When you check out the Meizu website you have to wonder what these guys were thinking and just how long they thought they would get away with copying the Apple look and feel.
Even the way they have the headphones designed and just check out the M8 spec page. Looks like it was copied directly from Apple.
To be honest, they must have the technical know how to slap the phone together but must lack even a single creative idea of their own, which is quite sad.
It says their OS Mymobile .. is based on Windows CE6.0. Strange that MS hasn't a similar OS. You have to wonder what they reversed engineered.
Steve's experiences with NeXT and PIXAR have helped him make Apple cautious and ready for all attacks.
Has Meizu made an actual phone that works, or are they just photoshopped bluster?
I assumed they were available ... you think not?
It's Meitu, pronounced Me-too!
Or Meizu got sued by Appleson!
I assumed they were available ... you think not?
Where is it available? At what price?
Meizu CEO Jack Wong reportedly expressed frustration over Apple lawyers using "unreasonable negotiation tactics" when dealing with Meizu
This does make me wonder if Apple is really pushing into China hard now. They apparently have 25 more stores plans and tells me that China Unicom and China Telecom just won?t cut it. China Mobile?s 570 Million subs on a GSM/TD-SCDMA network is looking pretty good right now.
Where is it available? At what price?
They do exist. I saw a few M8s in St. Maarten. I think they were around $400 USD.
got sued by Appleson!
Apple-san would be Japanese not Chinese.
In the Chinese culture it is common for several companies to take the design of a leader in the space (for example all the small telecoms logos ape the largest telecom company). For them its an accepted practice almost like imitation is a high form of respect?
So even tho I can understand why they do it, they can't compete on the international stage this way, and need to respect international intellectual property much more.
For them its an accepted practice almost like imitation is a high form of respect?
Let's not forget that the West did not exactly pay them royalties for paper, gunpowder, ceramics, Delft-ware, noodles (pasta), etc.
They must have had very high respect for the Chinese back then!
http://cgi.ebay.com/Not-Macbook-Air-...item20b4302f69
Let's not forget that the West did not exactly pay them royalties for paper, gunpowder, ceramics, Delft-ware, noodles (pasta), etc.
They must have had very high respect for the Chinese back then!
By the time the west copied those items they had been in production for more than 17 years already. The patents would have expired by then so no royalties were due.
Let's not forget that the West did not exactly pay them royalties for paper, gunpowder, ceramics, Delft-ware, noodles (pasta), etc.
They must have had very high respect for the Chinese back then!
Wow. That was a deep reach into the 'everything is the West's fault' bag.
Wow. That was a deep reach into the 'everything is the West's fault' bag.
What if it wasn?t intentional but occidental.
What if it wasn?t intentional but occidental.
It was somewhat disorienting.
It was somewhat disorienting.
I was talking to someone just last week that thinks the term Oriental and Orient are both derogatory, I pointed out the origin of the term meaning ‘east' or more accurately ‘to rise’ as in the rising sun but they didn’t care. It’s wrong because we think it’s wrong and any original meaning or non-derogatory usage doesn’t make it not wrong.
I asked if Far East was wrong’ they said no. I asked if the Japanese word for Japan, Nippon, which means land of the rising sun was wrong; they said no. I honestly don’t get how we can have these emotional responses to words that are just scribbles on a page or vibrations in the air even when the meaning isn’t offensive.