Sure, but that's not really the point. Apple didn't copy anybody when they used the notch — they were trying to make an edge-to-edge display and had to make a concession to house the front-facing camera and additional sensors for Face ID.

But ever since Apple released the iPhone X, suddenly there are notched phones everywhere. And these phones don't seem to be trying for an edge-to-edge display, so it's curious that they would choose to adopt a notch unless they're just trying to copy Apple. (Which is a viable suggestion since the smartphone market is more or less divided into Apple and Everybody Else.)

Thank you for sharing this; I hope more people can see this. Apple gets the credit for this notch when it was the Essential phone that implemented the idea first. At least in the Essential phone their notch was so minimal to just get the camera to fit that it was not very intrusive. Even though I'm not a fan of a notch, this worked fine.