Apple exec hits Samsung again for ‘ripping off’ iPhone

The long battle between Android and iOS continues on, unfortunately, even though it’s getting pretty old. Although so-called Android “fanboys” get a lot of blame for carrying on the antagonism, Apple certainly isn’t innocent in this fight.

Case in point: today, The Wall Street Journal published a documentary short looking back on 15 years of the iPhone (h/t MacRumors). In the documentary, an Apple exec slams Samsung for “ripping off” the iPhone.

You can watch the 21-minute documentary for yourself here. However, the main criticism from Apple marketing chief Greg Joswiak is below. This statement is in response to Joswiak being asked about how Samsung’s competitive products affected Apple in the early days of the iPhone.

[Samsung was] annoying. And they were annoying because, as you know, 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. So, yeah, we were none too pleased.

Apple vs Samsung: The market wouldn’t be the same without Samsung

Joswiak is likely referring to early Galaxy S and Galaxy Note phones. Although the overall design of the phones differed from iPhones, they still had a physical home button on the bottom front and a display above it. Apparently, that’s all you need to do to “rip off” the iPhone.

Funnily, Joswiak’s claim that all Samsung did was “put a bigger screen around” its “poor copy” products belittles the massive impact Samsung had on the overall smartphone market. While Steve Jobs was alive, he very publically condemned the idea of larger smartphones, despite Samsung proving that is what most consumers want. When you fast-forward to today, you find a market saturated with enormous phones. Some of Apple’s most popular iPhones in its history were the first ones to offer a larger display (the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus). It’s almost like iPhone buyers were patiently waiting for the opportunity to finally get bigger phones.

Furthermore, Apple tried to go back to smaller displays with the iPhone 12 Mini and iPhone 13 Mini. Both models are the worst-selling iPhones of the past two years, and rumors suggest Apple will abandon the Mini line completely this year. In its place, Apple will likely launch — you guessed it — a larger version of the vanilla iPhone 14.

One begins to wonder what the smartphone market would look like today if Apple didn’t see Samsung innovate in this space. But it’s clear some Apple executives don’t care to wonder.