A Phone to Die For

Posted on Jul 22, 2009

Courtesy of Apple

After losing a prototype iPhone, a Chinese product manager for Apple’s overseas manufacturer killed himself by jumping from his apartment window. Apple doesn’t directly manufacture its products, but the company’s notorious and sometimes belligerent devotion to secrecy isn’t playing well in light of reports that Sun Danyong, 25, was harassed before his death by security personnel from his employer’s parent firm.

To be clear, Apple did not directly employ the man in question or the security personnel who are alleged to have searched his apartment.

The iPhone is manufactured in China by Taiwan-based Foxconn, which is itself owned by a company called Hon Hai.

A Hon Hai security official has been suspended, but it’s not clear there’s a link to the suicide.

(via Engadget)

Reuters via Yahoo:

But according to a report in the influential Nanfang Daily, Sun, a 25-year-old product manager, became frantic after discovering that one of 16 prototypes of Apple’s fourth-generation N90 iPhone had gone missing. The iPhone is Apple’s hottest-selling device and the latest version is a well-kept secret.

Sun vented his growing frustration in text messages to his girlfriend and a former classmate, and tried to find the missing device, the Nanfang Daily said. But company officials from Foxconn’s security division apparently got suspicious and raided his home.

The Yunnan native jumped from his 12th floor apartment the day after, according to the report.

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