The cartoon posted by LeTV's CEO on Sina Weibo compares Apple Inc with Adolf Hitler. The text above the cartoon translates to: "Crowd-sourcing and liberty VS arrogance and dictatorship. In which way can we move the industry forward?"

The founder and CEO of a China-based video portal that is launching a smartphone in April compared smartphone maker Apple Inc to Adolf Hitler On Friday.

Jia Yueting, the billionaire head of Leshi Internet Information and Technology, or LeTV, posted a cartoon to his official Weibo page that shows a caricature of Hitler giving the "Heil Hitler" salute while wearing a red armband with the Apple logo instead of a swastika.

The posting is believed to be part of an effort to promote LeTV's first smartphone, the Android-based and bezel-less X900, and it criticizes Apple's approach to smartphones.

The Hitler caricature is positioned in front of caution tape and warning signs, apparently meant to depict the Apple experience. Opposite of the Hitler caricature is a group of mostly small children smiling, sunshine and windmills meant to represent the Android experience.

In the middle of the cartoon is an open door in a cell-phone shaped frame, which many believe is the upcoming LeTV's Android-based "super smartphone" to be launched in Silicon Valley on April 13.

The caption is: "Crowd-sourcing and liberty VS arrogance and dictatorship. In which way can we move the industry forward?"

In a separate tweet, Jia continued bashing Apple: "There is only a model of the time but no model that can be successful forever. The time is going to change, and you are going to give up your liberty for good user experiences?"

Neither Apple nor LeTV responded to China Daily's request for comment on Friday.

It is not the first time that Jia has openly criticized other companies on his Weibo page.

Of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone, he said in February 2014: "Samsung is a brand of the industrial age and cannot meet demands of present. So many non-subversive products like this made mobile Internet encounter its bootle neck… LeTV never does any non-subversive product."

About Sony, he said in August 2012 its "stiffened mindset and dull design were seemingly staying in the last century and has failed to catch up with the Internet age."

LeTV has gone beyond its traditional video portal business and been aiming to create its own system like Apple and Google. Jia also boasted on his Weibo that it is "an Internet company that has built a multi-terminal UI after Apple and Google."

In May 2013, LeTV launched its own "super TV", which is closely integrated with its cloud-based video-on-demand services. It also established its own online streaming music company on Thursday.

Lu Huiquan in New York contributed to this story.