I won't comment on anything else -- I really don't know much about it -- but I will take exception to the "clone" comment.
It is very hard to make a decent copy of a great product. This goes for everything, not just phones. There were many others trying to copy the many great ideas packed into the iphone. Even now, its not obvious.
Consider that even for an android as it currently stands -- a phone where you get the OS from Google, and the parts from various known manufacturers -- there is an enormous difference in quality between the different products. Samsung has dominated other phone makers and in theory they should produce comparable product. (Some do, I am sure.)
The same is true of, say, Windows laptops. Some are amazing and some are unusable. But why? They all us the same OS and the parts come from the same handful of manufacturers?
I'll let more knowledgeable people opine as to what the challenges are, but its not easy.
It is very hard to make a decent copy of a great product. This goes for everything, not just phones. There were many others trying to copy the many great ideas packed into the iphone. Even now, its not obvious.
Consider that even for an android as it currently stands -- a phone where you get the OS from Google, and the parts from various known manufacturers -- there is an enormous difference in quality between the different products. Samsung has dominated other phone makers and in theory they should produce comparable product. (Some do, I am sure.)
The same is true of, say, Windows laptops. Some are amazing and some are unusable. But why? They all us the same OS and the parts come from the same handful of manufacturers?
I'll let more knowledgeable people opine as to what the challenges are, but its not easy.