Huawei accused Xiaomi of theft

A pretty strong statement was made by Yu Chengdong, CEO of Huawei, at the company's annual conference. Specifically, he accused Xiaomi of stealing the hinge of their foldable phone and passing it off as their own to the public. Xiaomi today denied the accusations!

At this event, the CEO stated that their patent for the folding hinge of foldable mobile phones was simply copied and claimed as their own. That was a pretty strong statement from the head of such a large company and it spread very quickly. It was also posted on Xiaomi's Weibo page as "proof" that they were just flashing stolen technology. But Xiaomi didn't take this with a sober eye and refuted the accusations outright.

"In the recent past Mr Yu Chengdong made unfoundedly untrue comments about our company's keel shaft technology that seriously contradict the facts. We solemnly clarify the following."

According to Xiaomi's latest statement, Xiaomi applied for a patent for its proprietary spinal cord on 18 September 2020 and received the patent on 5 January 2021. It was first used in the Xiaomi MIX Fold 3 in August 2023. The patent for the so-called double rotating water droplet hinge by Mr Yu Chengdong was filed on 13 December 2019 and was only published on 18 June 2021. This shows that Yu Chengdong's comments are completely inconsistent with the facts.

The Xiaomi wrist strap is slim and easy to fold, and is a true flagship. It features an innovative 3-level hinge, 14 movable hinges, 198 hinge parts and a hinge floating plate with a no-hole design. The screen flatness has been greatly improved, with the folded out screen thinner by 8.6% and the folded in screen thinner by 12.5%. The hinge width is 8% narrower and the hinge area is 17% smaller than the previous model.

I don't see what the point was, Huawei has no need to make accusations, especially not without foundation.