By WILLIAM FOREMAN,Associated Press Writer AP -
Thursday, July 23
GUANGZHOU, China - An employee at a factory that makes
iPhones in China killed himself after a prototype went missing, and
Apple Inc. responded Wednesday by saying its suppliers are required
to treat workers with dignity and respect.
The dead worker, Sun Danyong, 25, worked in product
communications at Foxconn Technology Group, a Taiwanese firm that
makes many Apple products at a massive factory in the southern city
of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong.
Although Apple and Foxconn have confirmed Sun's suicide, they
have not provided details about the circumstances, which have been
reported by the state-run Southern Metropolis Daily, one of the
region's most popular papers.
There's tremendous pressure on employees dealing with Apple's
new products to maintain a high-level secrecy over the gadgets,
traditionally launched amid great suspense and a big marketing
buzz. Apple is also a constant target of prying journalists,
rabidly faithful customers and competitors who make great efforts
to try to steal a peek at its latest technology.
Sun was responsible for sending iPhone prototypes to Apple, and
on July 13 he reported that he was missing one of the 16
fourth-generation units in his possession, the newspaper reported.
His friends said company security guards searched his apartment,
detained him and beat him, the paper reported.
In the early morning of July 16, Sun jumped from the 12th floor
of his apartment building, the paper said.
Jill Tan, an Apple spokeswoman in Hong Kong, issued only a brief
statement about the incident.
"We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and
we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death," Tan
said. "We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity
and respect."
The hot-selling iPhone has helped make Apple immune to the
global recession. On Tuesday, the Cupertino, California-based
company said its earnings jumped 15 percent in the third quarter _
growth propelled by laptop and iPhone sales.
More than 5.2 million iPhones were sold in the third quarter _
seven times what it sold at the same time last year _ and the spike
in sales was partly because of a newly released version of the
device, the company said.
One of Apple's most important manufacturing partners has long
been Foxconn, owned by Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. _
the world's biggest contract manufacturer of electronics. The
corporate behemoth has also produced computers for Hewlett-Packard
Co., PlayStation game consoles for Sony Corp. and mobile phones for
Nokia Corp.
Foxconn said in a statement its security chief has been
suspended and turned over to the police.
The security official, Gu Qinming, was quoted by the Southern
Metropolis Daily as saying he never hit Sun. Gu reportedly said
after three security personnel searched Sun's apartment and did not
find the phone, the employee was ordered to go to Gu's office on
July 15.
The security chief said he didn't think Sun was being truthful
about the phone, the paper reported.
"I got a bit agitated. I pointed my finger at him and said that
he was trying to shift the blame," Gu was quoted as saying.
He added, "I was a little angry and I pulled his right shoulder
once to get him to tell me what happened. It (the beating) couldn't
have happened," the paper reported.
Local police declined to respond to questions from The
Associated Press.
Foxconn executive Li Jinming said in a statement that Sun's
death showed the company needed to do a better job helping its
employees with psychological pressures.
"Sun Danyong graduated from a good school. He joined the company
in 2008. He had an extremely bright future. The group and I feel
deep pain and regret when a young person dies like this."
