Samsung Mobile's VP of Design responds to accusations of copying Apple

In a recent interview with news outlet Reuters, Samsung Mobile's vice president of design, Lee Minhyouk, shed some light on the Korean manufacturer's recent rise to the top of the smartphone heap. Tracing the ascent back to the (dark) days of the Omnia, Lee detailed the origins of the company's first major splash in the swimming pool, the OG Galaxy, which he says grew out of the lessons learned from the failed Omnia.
More interesting than the history of the Galaxy line, however, is Lee's defense against accusations that it blatantly ripped off Apple's design model. Having sold over 44 million Galaxys since its launch, Lee says that the product is steeped in Samsung's "technology, color, and design language."

I've made thousands of sketches and hundreds of prototype products (for the Galaxy). Does that mean I was putting on a mock show for so long, pretending to be designing?

While Lee admits that he isn't at the level of expertise as the big-wigs over in Cupertino, he is confident that Samsung will eventually create a product to "define our time," and he hopes that he's at the helm when it happens.

It's not just effort that makes it possible for a new product to be a massive hit. It also has to be timely, and technology should be ready to make a certain design a reality.