I am not kidding: there are eight different phone models in the market now that are identical in terms of design: they have the same design – the triangular design of the iPhone 14 Pro’s rear camera module. What makes it even more interesting is the fact that all the three phone brands involved are related and operate under an umbrella company.
It is clear to me that this is the result of a deliberate policy. But before I dive into the analysis, here are the phones in question:
This is the TECNO Spark 20c:
This is the TECNO Spark 20:
This is the itel A70:
This is the TECNO Pop 8:
This is the TECNO Spark Go 2024:
This is Infinix Hot 40 Pro:
This is the Infinix Hot 40:
This is Infinix Hot 40i:
As you can see, all eight of them share the same back design, especially that distinct rear camera module. All of these phones are from three different brands, TECNO, Infinix, and itel, that belong to the same parent company, Transsion.
This didn’t happen by accident. It is clearly a deliberate policy to have them all share the same design lines. Perhaps this is a cost-cutting measure. Surely, using that single design for eight different phone models must have some economies of scale benefits.
Times are hard. Chip companies are announcing new chipsets that are minor modifications on existing ones. Phone companies are releasing many phones with toned down specs compared to their predecessors. The purpose of all of these strategies is to keep production, and consequently selling prices, low. It is only at the high-end and premium-end of the market that this isn’t happening.
Xiaomi already does something similar, rebranding some Redmi phones as Poco phones, and keep the same design between the two brands. But they have never done it on the kind of scale that we are seeing with TECNO, Infinix, and itel.
Of course, rebadging one phone as another goes beyond just the design. For example, while the TECNO Spark Go 2024 and TECNO Pop 8 share the same design (front and back), they are exactly the same product, inside and outside. We are not sure which came first, as they were both announced and released in the same month.
You could pick one of them and it is as good as having picked the other. There is no difference between them, beside the name. Have a look at this TECNO Pop 8 unboxing for an idea what both these phones look like:
Note that apart from the TECNO Pop 8 and TECNO Spark Go 2024, all the others using this same rear camera module design have different specs. The similarity ends mostly with the back cover design.
Who knows? Other phone brands might adopt this approach as well and begin to share one design among multiple models across their sister companies or sub-brands, on a large scale. Time will tell.