Not everything they make looks like Apple. They got things that look like Nokia too, including "Nokla". Its funny that some of these phones got touchscreens while Nokia featurephones don't.
Another one being copied often now is HTC. In some cases, the HTC copies themselves are better than the original. A case in point is the HTC clone having a more advanced edition of Windows Mobile than the original HTC model.
Small companies that built devices don't really have the money to fund large design efforts and long running marketing focus groups. That's why there is a big difference in the products companies like ZTE, Lenovo and Huawei makes vs. companies like SciPhone or Meizu. As always, if you want the better Chinese products, you go with the brand names---ZTE, Huawei, Haier, Lenovo, and so on.
Many excellent examples of Chinese innovation are not in consumer products. For example, Huawei got base stations that consolidate in a single base station, GSM, 3G UMTS, CDMA, EV-DO, so it can serve all handsets equally and allow different carriers to share on that station. Then they go further by providing solar or wind power to these stations, so they can be set up in remote rural regions that do not have access to power infrastructure and can be operated with much lower energy costs that can be passed to the users.
One of the most amazing things in China in 2009 is how the carriers spread wireless infrastructure to remote rural areas, and in doing so bring cellular technology to rural dwellers and farmers. Maybe its not apparent to you, but farmers directly benefit from wireless technologies. Weather forecasts and news---vital to a farmer's crop---can be relayed through mobile. The result of spreading wireless technologies to rural areas have a direct result in improving the GDP and living standards of people in those areas.
