Apple confirms death of iPhone worker in China

Update at 10:15 a.m. PDT: Comment from Apple added.

Apple confirmed on Tuesday the death of a man who worked at an iPhone plant in China.

According to various Chinese media reports, the worker at Chinese manufacturer Foxconn committed suicide last week after a fourth-generation iPhone prototype for which he was responsible went missing.

"We are saddened by the tragic loss of this young employee, and we are awaiting results of the investigations into his death," Apple spokeswoman Kristin Huguet told CNET on Tuesday. "We require our suppliers to treat all workers with dignity and respect."

Apple did not comment on the details of the worker's death, allegations regarding Foxconn's questioning of the worker, or the status of the allegedly missing phone prototype.

Various English-language sites have been repeating and translating Chinese media reports.

According to Chinese media, 25-year-old Sun Danyong was responsible for shipping iPhone prototypes to Apple. Danyong reported the missing device to Foxconn after realizing that one of the 16 iPhones he received was no longer in his possession.

Foxconn is Apple's longtime manufacturing partner in China. Apple has used the company to manufacture all of its iPods and, more recently, all of the iPhone models.

Foxconn did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

[sartor1]

What people do for money!

[geotopia]

People work for money, steal for money, sell things for money, but what's your point? Are you insinuating Apple had the poor guy knocked off? That FoxConn did? Or are you suggesting the guy sold the prototype and then killed himself?

[hhs2112]

@geotopia<br />Trying to figure out how you made the jump from the ?what people do for money? comment to ?insinuating Apple had the poor guy knocked off? ? are we a bit tense? Were you up all night practicing cutting-and-pasting? Maybe you also lost a few winks mastering that new-fangled voice dialing feature? Just wondering, did you put that little apple sticker on your car for money or was that a personal favor to Steve?

[Seaspray0]

Is it just me or does anyone else think that the title to this story is misleading?

[geotopia]

@HHS<br />YOU are way too intense. I don't know what the heck you are talking about. I'm not insinuating anything, I'm trying to find out what Sartor is insinuating. It's an honest question, is he suggesting the factory worker was killed for money, or that he stole the prototype for money? or that someone stole the prototype and that's why he killed himself. Get back on lithium and try to use that key to the left of the shift key more frugally.

[mrcockrell]

i could definately see it if he was killed for an iPhone 4G prototype

[myles taylor]

He wasn't killed. He committed suicide.

[BehaCepa]

That's what they want you to think....

[mrcockrell]

@ myles <br /> <br />i know what is says... i'm saying I can see someone killing somone for an iPhone 4G but i cant see someone killing themselves because one got lost, although coulture is very different there

[umbrae]

It is not unusual for Asian cultures to commit suicide after a business failure or loss of honor. To Asian culture successful business is important. Japan has a strong honor code and suicide over failures was expected. Of course, this is more from previous centuries, but culture can stick with you. Now this is China, so there is no telling what might have actually happen. Not like people there has not gone missing or such before.

[Nataku4ca]

@umbrae <br /> <br />though I want to agree with u, but that only works for "some" asian countries, I wouldn't count chinese/mandarin/cantonese speaking countries in just yet. No offence, just I've worked there for year last year and boy... some of the things I've seen...

[Nataku4ca]

@umbrae <br /> <br />though I want to agree with u, but that only works for "some" asian countries, I wouldn't count chinese/mandarin/cantonese speaking countries in just yet. No offence, just I've worked there for year last year and boy... some of the things I've seen... <br /> <br />edit: oops just realized i only read the first part of ur comment, sorry

[Pixelslave]

I am Chinese and I can tell you that the "suicide culture" is simply not there. As far as I am aware, among the CJK cultural circle, Japan is the only one that has such culture.<br /><br />That said, I wouldn't be surprised that the employee really did commit suicide -- it's not much of a guilt thing, but a pressure thing. Assuming that he considered himself having a bright future (he probably did as I don't think everyone work there had their hands on a 4-gen iPhone prototype), losing the prototype might make him think that it dealt a major blow to his career. This is not an uncommon cause of suicide among Chinese.

[kronic24601]

Dude, I've seen Last Samaria (the Tom Cruise Movie)... they totally would kill themselves over a lost battle, iphone or otherwise... and since Japan and China are both Asian cultures, I'll just go ahead and assume there is not a single difference in their culture what-so-ever. I clearly am correct, let's not dig into the details or analyze/scrutinize my comment in anyway though... seriously ... don't...<br /><br />Although personally, I think Steve Jobs did it himself. I can just see it now ...

[DrtyDogg]

good thing you saw a movie, otherwise you wouldn't have a clue what you are talking about.

[vkarthikkumar]

@umbrae: While suicide isn't the best answer to his mortgages or a pending lawsuit from Apple, it might have been the only option he saw. Or the horrible alternative that Apple or Foxconn roughed him to death. Note, there is news about physical intimidation and I'm wondering why either of these companies never sought to legal counsel then.

[Random_Walk]

Damn - now that's taking a job way too seriously. (then again, in a culture that places penultimate emphasis on what is best described as "Face", it isn't entirely unexpected).

[Renegade Knight]

Street Cred and Face are much the same thing.

[renGek]

Yup its the total extreme to one side whereas in the U.S. we are the extreme on the other side. We don't give a crud at work when something breaks or goes missing. We'll just blame someone else or just shrug and take our union breaks.

[sgoodell07]

no, street cred and face are nothing alike....saving face comes from thousands of years of cultural development and involves a complex system of honorific and familial behavioral developments....street cred is something someone says when they want to sound like they are cool or wish to imply that somehow they are "known on the street", whatever the hell THAT really means anyway.

[mbenedict]

Taking a job way too seriously? What planet are you from? The guy was repeatedly beaten, harassed, and held in solitary confinement to extract a "confession" out of him.<br /><br />I guess that's acceptable conduct for Apple suppliers -- anything goes according to Apple's infamous secrecy rules, right? No doubt Foxconn is under severe pressure from Apple for losing the prototype and they decided to make this guy the scapegoat.<br /><br />Foxconn has had a long history of running sweatshops to build iPods and mistreating employees, yet Apple has always "looked the other way". Disgusting.

[myles taylor]

Well he probably would have gotten fired and maybe he just couldn't take the possibility. That's really sad.

[blusky08]

Don't forget that executives are routinely executed there for infractions. Perhaps there were more serious insinuations (rightly or wrongly) that brought this about. Either way, it is tragic.

[YankeePoodle]

This is unfortunate, the worker is victim of the culture of secrecy and harsh consequences in an event of a leak. Apple should be investigated if it has violated any workers, human rights to keep their product designs super secret through out the process. This is the kind of price you pay for the Kinky culture.

[Earl Benzar]

Did you read the story? Apparently not. The guy worked for FOXCONN not for Apple. As for secrecy, you have also apparently never worked in R&#38;D.

[YankeePoodle]

First I read the article.<br />Second I know people who had transgressions in R&#38;D, who are not bulied, threatened, killed or committed suicides. Their penalties varied from let go, to slap on the wrist.<br />Third, Apple secrecy culture is uncommon, they chased bloggers with clubs for publishing pics or nearly end products not some "rocket science prototype".<br /><br />Finally Apple may had stringent clauses with Foxconn, that would have severe consequences for Foxconn because of this episode and hence they had pushed their employee to brink, Apple is not directly culpable but there can be some clauses that are destructive to the workers of the partners, which needs to be looked into.

[Earl Benzar]

&gt; they chased bloggers with clubs for publishing pics<br /><br />Your credibility has gone off the charts with that one.

[YankeePoodle]

Earl Benzar,<br /><br />do you know what a metaphor is? If you are autistic, I excuse you, because only they have the inability to understand metaphors and take things literally. Apple sued bloggers (if you want) literal wording. Oh! dont come after my credibility? this is the second personal attack in just two posts, go f urself.

[irueludruel]

Worst metaphor attempt ever!

[YankeePoodle]

rueludruel,<br /><br />thank you for your graceful comments... its time for you to move on to apple store and bootup in fanboy mode.. wait.. you are already in fanzombie mode.. well good luck,..

[bobmarleypeople]

If you read into it, it was actually unfair interrogation techniques that caused him to go over the edge (in both senses of the phrase). By "unfair" i actually mean solitary confinement and (this is the clincher now) beatings. Foxconn took it too far to keep its contract secure with Apple.

[imgoer]

I agree with you. I have read the his chat record with his college friends, it can be easily found on chinese online community. Obviously he suffered from the suspect and even violence imposed by Foxconn, which was trying hardly to save the contract with Apple. He also mentioned a lot about how he was beaten and insulted when he was in high school. I think what happened in Foxconn just forced him to remember those hard time, made him feel desperate. I feel he is a good guy, and maybe just a young boy. The Chinese government and The Companies should take care of young men like him, but actually few men in power feel their pain.

[dumbspammers]

He was pushed.

[sciontcya]

Successfully, I might add...<br />Those krazy kommunists!

[gggg sssss]

Dont buy cr*p made in China. Or accept that people will die so that you can have an iPhone. You have no idea how many more have died from chemical spills, gas leaks all manner of industrial accidents.

[jasonsewell]

It's relatively well-know that a member of the original Apple Newton team committed suicide due in part to the stress of the development effort.

[AppleID8796]

Who was that? I don't remember anyone taking it that seriously?

[viper396]

"well-known"?? ...maybe in you own mind. What's the point in making up blatant lies and rumors like this? All you do is lose credibility.

[Demolition]

viper396,<br /><br />The suicide is mentioned in a book titled "Defying Gravity: The Making of Newton" by Markos Kounalakis. Apparently, a member of the engineering team committed suicide just before the original Newton's launch. Although no connection was formally made, it was speculated that he broke under the pressure of the grueling pace needed to get it out on time.

[Mergatroid Mania]

@viper396<br /><br />What's the point of denying things just because you're not aware of them? Just because you haven't heard of something, doesn't mean it never happened. And accusing people of lying? Get off your high horse dude.

[stepyourgameup]

What is honorable about committing suicide anyway? I think it makes you look weak.

[hockeymass]

You clearly don't know anyone who has committed suicide or have never had suicidal thoughts. Most suicidal people believe that death is preferable to the emotional or physical stress, pain, or difficulty they are or will soon endure. <br /> <br />Say what you will about weakness, but things have to be pretty bad if a person would rather die than face what lies ahead. This person was looking at losing his job and potentially being blacklisted in the industry in a culture that places ultimate value on labor and the benefit an individual provides to the state. <br /> <br />This is an extreme tragedy and I feel deeply for this poor soul.

[Perry_Clease]

I guess it depends on the society, and period in time, in which you live and the circumstances. Generals often did it after a defeat such as Brutus "By all means must we fly; not with our feet, however, but with our hands." <br /><br />When I get depressed I think of my heroes who went through worse times and survived, I take strength from them. I guess that there is an honor in that.

[Mr. Dee]

I have lost a very close family member to suicide and trust me, its nothing to be taken lightly. This person I knew was very strong and healthy, in their last few months they started suffering from a lot of stress which was work related. We never saw the signs until they took their life. The person who dies does not suffer, but its the family that's left behind that has to deal with it. <br /><br />I hope Apple learns from this though, if it leaks, shut the hell up and stop acting like some whiny idiot. If I were Apple I would see to it that the family is taken care of and remind the company's building these prototypes, yes, its a big deal when you lose one, but its ok, just let it go and move on.

[Nataku4ca]

@ Mr. Dee <br /> <br />just want to put it out there, I recently lost a friend to suicide too, it was 3 weeks ago... and it was relationship related, danm we need better ways to talk these people out of it, he never spoke to anyone about it and now that he passed on two families suffer and many friends felt the bomb that he dropped, wish i had a chance to stop this...

[ralfthedog]

1. No phone is worth a human life.<br /><br />2. Apple has every right to protect it's intellectual property.<br /><br />3. Apple needs to express in the most forceful terms available that contractors who make products or parts of products for Apple will respect the rights of workers. <br /><br />If Foxconn is unable to treat all workers with respect, Apple should find a new supplier. If no alternative supplier exists Apple should create one.

[chriscooksey]

I want that prototype

[Eddie-c]

Check ebay ;)

[Rod Roddy]

It's stories like these that shed a very ominous light on Apple, its suppliers, and their dealings...hmmm?

[sciontcya]

No, it's replies like yours that make the world so infuriating...<br />Go back to trying to prove we never landed on the moon.<br />Please.

[Mergatroid Mania]

Maybe Apple's suppliers, but they can't be responsable for everyone they do business with. I am not my brother's keeper.<br />I just hope they do the right thing and support the poor guys family.<br /><br />However, I really don't see what it has to do with denying the moon landings.

[gggg sssss]

@ Mergatroid Mania Why not? the green freaks want to have final assemblers vouch for green-ness up stream. Why not vouch for not killing your workers?

[Rod Roddy]

@ sciontcya, thank you for setting me straight (underhanded compliment) you are sooo right (another underhanded compliment)....and I suppose the moon isn't made of cheese?

[mathue_tax]

Our R&#38;D prototypes have VERY strict clauses with them, and we only make medical devices. This is hardly Apple only, this is highly competitive business where an edge is EVERYTHING. It's internet geeks who spend all day posting to news sites instead of creating goods that contribute to GNP who think this is odd or unusual. It's unfortunate that the FoxConn employee ended his life over this, however, people end their lives over deaths of loved ones, divorces, depression, life stress and so on.<br /><br />Undoubtedly people die in car accidents going to work, is that somehow the employers fault? People die of heart attacks while using the toilet, is the toilet maker, the plumber or the building codes responsible??<br /><br />Seriously, you and others of your ilk really need to step back and think about things rationally before you post such absurd things.

[iceberg020]

i think the worker was trying to say "idied". "I died, I died and you just stood there. I died and you watched me. I died and you walked by and said, 'No, I'm dead.'"<br />thats peral jam btw evenflow

[gggg sssss]

that should be a lower case i, dude

[Hockeyfan333]

Umm, can we consider one more possibility? Maybe the "stress of development", "dishonor" and "torture tactics" aren't to blame? Maybe he was just a deeply disturbed individual who needed a very small push to go from near mental to suicidal? Come on people, do we REALLY have to blame everything on someone else. How about this for a theory...He was a little of and made a poor and sad personal choice that he and only he is responsible for. I don't mean to speak ill of him, after all I didn't know him. It just seems to me that there are nothing but conspiracies, pointing fingers and "shame on you Apple/Foxxconn/Industry" comments here.

[Proud_Geek]

It's possible, but unlikely. It's well-known that the far-eastern culture values such things as honor VERY highly, unlike us little American ***** who have absolutely no shame. <br /> <br />Yes, he might have been a little imbalanced, but by most standards, we're ALL a little imbalanced.

[ender21]

Absolutely that can be considered. But since no one can confirm or deny with 100% certainty actions they did not witness, the story as reported is just another possibility. A company's first mission is to protect its revenue, thus motivation to make the story as simple as possible, not complex.<br /><br />"If we fail to anticipate the unforeseen or expect the unexpected in a universe of infinite possibilities, we may find ourselves at the mercy of anyone or anything that cannot be programmed, categorized or easily referenced."

[al2o3cr]

Of course, the cause of death would be much more obvious if he'd lost a Zune prototype.<br /><br />It's awful hard to disguise a flying chair impact as a "suicide"... :)

[alskiontheweb]

Ah...let's kick off the conspiracy here...perhaps Steve Jobs needs another liver and he "purchased" it from someone that owed him deeply? Perhaps the SEC should investigate?

[Proud_Geek]

Nice. I didn't even think of that one!

[gggg sssss]

I thought that livers are harvested from the Falon Gung. Was thsi guy a Falon Gung?

[codynews]

Why doesn't Apple make the iPhone in the US. Could it cost *THAT* much more per unit? So it's a few bucks... I'd gladly pay the cost (+ margin) difference to get one made in the US.<br /><br />Cody

[jragosta]

Actually, it DOES cost much, much more to buy most things in the US. I've competed with Chinese manufacturers and the cost difference is incredible.<br /><br />You can't really blame any individual company. The blame really falls on the last 30 years of appeasement and unwillingness to demand fair trade. If we had insisted in the 1980s that the RMB be allowed to float against the dollar, the situation would be vastly different than it is today. For starters, we'd have several million more manufacturing jobs than we do today.

[viper396]

" I'd gladly pay the cost (+ margin) difference to get one made in the US" <br /> <br />I doubt it. <br /> <br />The average white collar job in China makes ~$8,800 US per year. Factory line workers get much less. That's less then the Federal minimum wage in the US. I doubt you'll find many legal workers in the US willing to work for so little. It's no secret that Apple has high profit margins on their products. In order to maintain that profit level they would have to almost double the sales cost of the iPhone in order to cover manufacturing wages in the US. <br /> <br /> <br />I

[Mergatroid Mania]

Goes to show you just where the west's morals are when money is involved. Just why we allow imports from countries with such low standards of living is beyond me....oh yeah, right...the Dollar...I forgot that it's more important than peoples wellbeing. <br /> <br />Who cares if the west is turned into a bunch of welfare states, as long as we can import things cheap.... <br /> <br />They should be made to raise their standard of living to equal ours before they are allowed to import anything. It's ridiculous to lower our standards to their level. Just one more way the rich get richer and the poor get poorer.<br /><br />Oh man, I keep forgetting the Dollar. Of course the most important thing is rich people getting more Dollars. How could I possibly compare that to peoples lives and living standards....silly me...

[gggg sssss]

agreed. Same with cars. Get rid of the unions, get wages under control, manufacture smart. Butthe peopel who are buying iPhones are buying Kias too.

[DMBoricua]

Atleast this article tells us theres gonna be an iPhone 4G ;P

[viper396]

Was that ever in doubt?

[te316]

yeah - with a battery time of 4 hours. Since my 3GS lasts only three (when it's used) I think it is fair to assume they'll improve a little bit more. Yes - I admittedly exaggerate to demonstrate the point that I will no longer be excited about potential new iPhones until everybody who has their head stuck in the sand, including Apple, stops pretending this is a usable phone for the power user. The net is full of reports of horrendous battery time. And no, "turn this and that off" is not an acceptable solution, because then I prefer my BB Bold, which lasts me for two days with everything turned on. With everything turned off it is not the same phone as everything turned on.

[cnetpre]

Apple's source of manufacturing iPhones are supposed to be private and confidential information to prevent competitors from making deals with the same manufacturer. Looks like we also know now where Apple outsources U.S. jobs to, Foxconn in China?

[gggg sssss]

And Rim makes the BB in Canada, so it cant be that hard to avoid china.

[mbenedict]

Apple's reliance on Foxconn goes many years back and has never been a secret. <br /><br />In the old days, Foxconn was primarily manufacturing in Taiwan, but since then it has moved most of its operations to sweatshops in mainland China -- basically special factories for producing iPods, where workers are paid just $50 month while working 15+ hour days.

[joshdeboer]

Who cares, there is a new iPhone every 3 weeks...

[BazzBro]

I hate comments like that, its just ignorant! Just becuase they come out with one every year doesn't mean they are doing anything wrong. How many phones do RIM and Nokia come out with every year? 1 phone a year isn't that big of a deal. They've made great improvements to the phone every year.

[Eddie-c]

Not ignorant, just very shrewd business accumen ... tying consumers to a 2yr contract, release new devices each year and people go up-in-arms at the cost/cry like babies because they think the contract they signed is unfair/act like rabid fanboys queuing for days to get one. wtg on apple's part really. /tic

[mgabrys]

"Hi, I'm a PC and I don't torture wage-slaves in China"<br /><br />Apple's response it pathetic. If they had any morals, they'd go with ANY other manufacturer on EARTH. This isn't the first time Foxconn was brought up on abusing workers. <br /><br />Beating up workers to the point of suicide (or throwing them out the window) - we have an iPhone app for that! Makes baby shaker look like a Disney app.<br /><br />In the meantime I get to look at my shiny apple iPhone - dipped in blood that Apple finds "regretful". Know what I regret doing? Buying my iPhone from a bunch of morally bankrupt middle management ******** who care none for "little people" and even less for "little yellow people".<br /><br />I had no idea Steve Jobs was of proud cold German stock.

[geotopia]

Ooh, I can see a major motion picture in a few years, "Blood Phone". Set in China, where a young factory worker slips an iPhone off the assembly line and swallows it whole to smuggle it out of the factory. Hey, maybe that's how THIS guy died!? He was just fine and then some "shake-the-baby" app went off as the phone passed through his large intestine and the GPS signal stopped his heart! Have they conducted an autopsy?

[Eddie-c]

He didn't swallow it - it went somewhere else. ouch. ;)

[Seaspray0]

@eddie-c. After you swallow something, it always ends up somewhere else.

[The_Decider]

And how many PC's are not made in Asia? What about those substandard parts that OEM's use?

[McAdams]

What a sad, miserable, idiot you are. People die everyday all over the world in all sorts of businesses. It's called 'life"--no guarantees of immortality. Your statement obviously shows lack of intellect. <br /><br />It's also sad that you are allowed to make such an asinine statement without backing it up with facts.<br /><br />Apple has always put out quality products that other companies are constantly copying or trying to emulate (Windows, for example?;Aqua interface; iPhone?)<br /><br />If you don't like Apple or the iPhone, please spew your vomit elsewhere. But please don't take this personally.