Lei Jun, founder and CEO of China's mobile company Xiaomi, shows new features at launch ceremony of Xiaomi Phone 4 in Beijing
Lei Jun, founder and CEO of China's mobile company Xiaomi, shows the new features at a launch ceremony of Xiaomi Phone 4, in Beijing, July 22, 2014. China's Xiaomi unveiled on Tuesday its new flagship Mi 4 smartphone, aimed squarely at the premium handset market dominated by Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd. REUTERS

Xiaomi, which has become a major smartphone manufacturer, is accused by Apple's Jonathan Ive for copying iPhone designs. Hugo Barra, the vice president of Xiaomi, has consistently denied the accusation.

Jonathan Ive, the person who designs the iPhones and iPads, is certainly not happy about the fact that his designs are "copied" by other smartphone brands. According to PhoneArena, when Ive was asked on how he feels about Xiaomi smartphones during the Vanity Fair New Establishment Summit, he answered by saying, "I see it as theft, and it's lazy." He also added that "a beautiful product that doesn't work very well is ugly."

Ive has also accused Xiaomi for copying the design of iOS for its MIUI skin. However, according to the report, later on Ive acknowledged that he might have exaggerated on the issue. Lin Bin, the President of Xiaomi, responded calmly by urging him to try a Xiaomi smartphone.

Bin said that Xiaomi does not put pressure on any person to try their products. Hence, only people who have used their products can rightly judge the quality. Bin even suggested gifting a Xiaomi handset to Ive. He added that he would eagerly wait Ive's feedback after using the handset.

Established in 2010, Xiaomi's popularity has considerably increased in the recent years. According to a report from Canalys, Xiaomi has grown to become the most popular smartphone brand in China, surpassing Apple and Samsung.

According to IBNLive, the major focus of Xiaomi is to increase its productivity. During the first six months of 2014, the Chinese manufacturer has produced 26 million handsets, and by the end of the year, it aims to manufacture more than 60 million handsets.

The Apple iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are available for preorders in China. The popularity of the new iPhone 6 in China has resulted in more than 1 million customers preordering the new handsets in every six hours. The iPhone 6 and the iPhone 6 Plus are expected to be released in China on October 17.