Actually, copying other IP has been seen as low hanging fruit, as it was for many other economies at that stage of development (Japan post WW2, America in the late 1800s as the industrial revolution was starting in the UK). Chinese VCs preferred "copy successful ideas from west" ideas because they were much lower risk for their capital.
It is just that the low hanging fruits are now almost all picked. Hopefully they are reaching their Walkman moment.
No, eventually the low hanging fruit runs out as you catch up with others and copying has diminishing, as well as negative, returns. You can't develop and secure your own IP as long as you are stealing others.
> To reach a Walkman moment they first have to invent a Walkman. Hope is not a strategy.
I'm talking about my own hopes here. And ya, they would have to invent a "Walkman." It hasn't happened yet, none of Xiaomi's products so far are original in anyway.
It is just that the low hanging fruits are now almost all picked. Hopefully they are reaching their Walkman moment.