iPhone News Updated

Who Is To Blame For iPhone-Related Suicide?

The apparent suicide death of a Foxconn employee accused of misplacing an Apple iPhone prototype has sparked an Internet firestorm and a police investigation.

On July 16, 25-year-old Sun Danyong reportedly plunged 12 stories after jumping from his apartment building in China. Sun had allegedly come under scrutiny from Foxconn, the Chinese manufacturer of the Apple iPhone, after one of 16 Apple iPhone prototypes in his care went missing.

Reuters reported that before Sun leapt from the building he sent text messages to his girlfriend and to a former classmate about his growing frustration over the investigation into the disappearance of a prototype of a new version of the iPhone.

Sun was allegedly accused of either losing or stealing the iPhone prototype and in response Foxconn security officials allegedly raided and searched Sun’s home, seized his property and placed him in solitary confinement. Some Chinese news outlets are also reporting that Sun was allegedly beaten.

In the wake of Sun’s suicide death, one Foxconn security official was reportedly suspended and Chinese police picked up the investigation. The police are reportedly probing Sun’s death as an apparent suicide.

So far, there has been no word of whether the missing Apple iPhone prototype, which is reportedly an early mock up of the fourth-generation smartphone, has been recovered.

Should Foxconn or Apple shoulder some blame for their roles in Sun’s suicide death?

First let’s look at Foxconn, another name for Taiwanese Apple iPhone manufacturing partner Hon Hai Precision Industry. Hon Hai is one of the world’s largest manufacturers, making a host of well known products on a contract basis. Along with Apple, Hon Hai and Foxconn make products for Cisco, Dell, Nokia and Sony.

According to Chinese and international press, Hon Hai is notorious for taking extreme measures to protect security related to its manufacturing customers and their products. This likely stems from its fear of losing out on lucrative manufacturing contracts from some of the world’s largest companies.

Sun’s alleged mistreatment over the missing Apple iPhone prototype shows that Hon Hai and Foxconn need to enact new policies and measures when it comes to the potential leakage of information. Security officials for the company are accused of mistreating Sun during their internal investigation into the missing prototype.

In the wake of Sun’s death, Hon Hai reportedly acknowledged that it suffers from internal management problems, but told The Wall Street Journal that it “never authorized anyone to conduct any moves beyond the law.” But allegedly seizing Sun’s property, beating him and raiding his home is going above the law. If those actions took place they should be stopped.

Now let’s look at Apple’s role in all of this.

Apple is known for its air of secrecy around its products and product development; so much so that Apple has filed lawsuits against bloggers and members of the press who get an early glimpse of a product Apple isn’t quite ready to release. Loss of an iPhone prototype would surely have led to Sun’s firing.

Part of Apple’s success is the ability to make consumers salivate over the prospect of a new product and reel them in when it is finally revealed, impact that would be lost if Apple’s trade secrets were leaked.

Apple is also strict about its manufacturing partners’ secrecy. One question that should be asked: did word of the missing iPhone prototype anger Apple executives and did Foxconn misinterpret that anger and take its investigation too far?

For Apple’s part, the company is waiting for official word from Chinese investigators before it discusses the matter further, only offering a short statement stating that it’s “saddened” by Sun’s death and that it is working to ensure its partner companies treat workers with dignity and respect.

The investigation into Sun’s death is now in the hands of Chinese authorities. As the investigation continues, it will be interesting to see the outcome and see if any individuals or companies face punishment or penalties for their role in Sun’s suicide. And whether Apple and Foxconn make changes to policies and procedures to prevent a similar incident from happening in the future.

[Thanks: http://www.crn.com]

Tweet This Post 

Comments are closed.