Oppo teased its upcoming smartwatch, but it appears the company didn't give it much thought; instead of inventing its own design, Oppo appears to have mimicked Apple's, right down to the watch face.

As XDA Developers discovered, the Oppo Watch design was teased by company VP Shen Yiren on Chinese social media site Weibo. And when XDA Developers first saw the thumbnail in an RSS feed, they thought they were using an official Apple photo. The resemblance is so striking that Oppo has cloned every aspect of the Apple Watch except for its distinctive crown.

And who can blame them? Apple clearly dominates the market with the Watch Series 3 and Watch Series 5. Xiaomi has also emulated Apple with the $185 Xiaomi Watch, but at least they are trying to add a design twist by giving it a more retro look.

Whether any of the Chinese tech makers can compete with Apple's wearables remains to be seen. In its latest financial report, the Cupertino company shattered everyone's predictions. That's not because of the iPhone, but because of AirPods and Watches. The latter has become the dominant force in the smartwatch industry, helped in part by Apple's health orientation and sophistication of its features, and Google's lack of a reliable Android-based alternative.

Perhaps if Xiaomi and Oppo can overcome Android's limitations with their unique features and undercut Apple's prices while maintaining quality, they may have a chance. Otherwise, Oppo and Xiaomi's watches will be little more than "Chinese clones that fall short of the real thing."

If Oppo announces the price and features of its watch, it remains to be seen.