On June 29th, 2007, the original iPhone entered the market, revolutionizing it. Other companies in the business had two options: copy the iPhone or stick with what they were doing.

As soon as Google realized how brilliant the iPhone was, it overhauled Android so that it was more like the iPhone than a BlackBerry clone. Samsung, however, made the most of the iPhone in the following years, copying everything about the original.

In a documentary released ahead of the 15th anniversary of the iPhone, the subject was revisited 15 years later. A senior Apple executive commented on the way Samsung copied the iPhone in the early years in this context.

Joanna Stern of The Wall Street Journal made the iPhone anniversary documentary. Different current and former Apple executives talk about what it was like to make the first iPhone in the video.

They also explain all the innovations that followed. The clip shows how iconic designs and features helped Apple transform the industry, starting with the original iPhone and ending with the iPhone 13.

It explores what the iPhone (and smartphones in general) mean to the younger generations, who have grown up in a world that relies on smartphones for everything. These devices do everything from keeping in touch with loved ones to work and entertainment. This leads to a situation where people spend too much time in front of screens.

Greg Joswiak, Apple's marketing chief, spoke with Stern about the history of the iPhone. He also discussed the impact the device had on Apple's competition. The executive explained how Apple felt about Samsung copying the iPhone in this context.

Samsung irritated Joswiak, he said. 'And they were annoying because, as you know, they copied our technology. A poor copy of our innovations was created by simply enclosing a bigger screen around our innovations. Needless to say, we weren't too pleased.'

Apple sued Samsung around the world in 2011 and won one of the biggest cases, receiving $1 billion at first. Following Samsung's appeal, the amount was less than half that. However, Samsung was already the biggest winner in the mobile industry. Samsung's decision to ruthlessly copy the iPhone was the smartest decision they ever made.

Despite this, the Korean giant did not admit any wrongdoing, and the two companies eventually settled in 2018. Samsung no longer copied the iPhone design and experience as blatantly by then. Phones with the Galaxy S design and interface had a different designs.

Nowadays, most smartphones look the same. And many Android designs still mimic the iPhone. It's clear that Apple also took inspiration from Samsung, at least when it comes to bringing larger screens to the iPhone. Samsung continues to copy Apple's iPhone innovations to this day.

Additionally, Samsung frequently mocks the iPhone maker in advertisements that it has to suppress when it eventually copies the features it mocked.

Even 15 years after the launch of the first iPhone, the Apple vs. Samsung camp remains divided. Both sides accuse the other of copying mobile innovations. However, nobody can forget Samsung's 132-page internal document that shows Samsung's plan to copy the iPhone pixel for pixel