Foxconn claims employee who committed suicide had history of misplacing prototypes, does nothing for its case
By Laura June 
posted July 27th 2009 12:26PM
posted July 27th 2009 12:26PM
This is one story that only gets more bizarre with each passing day. The 25-year-old Foxconn employee who committed suicide this month, apparently after one of the iPhone prototypes he was responsible for went missing, is now reported to have misplaced other prototypes previous to this instance. According to Foxconn (who spoke with the New York Times), his employer and the company charged with manufacturing all of Apple's handsets, Sun Danyong had had products go missing "several times," but that he had gotten them back. Foxconn itself is the subject of some mystery in all this, after a security officer connected to the company was suspended and turned over to the Chinese government -- apparently in connection with the case. Sun Danyong was reportedly interrogated and possibly beaten after the prototype went missing, though Foxconn and those connected with the company have denied this. Foxconn has confirmed thatSun Danyong's family was paid roughly $44,000 and given an Apple laptop as compensation for his death.
doesn't the name sound fishy though?
foxconn = FOX CONn
I tried to explain this to someone and they asked if Jack Bauer got them back.
i swapped him? you swapped him for WHAT??!?!
an IPOD...
and at the end of bruno
we got OJ back but it cost us a macbook pro..
philosophers debated it for centuries ,financial analysts tried forecasting it, military strategists
tried planning it.. but foxconn finally put a price tag on a human life..
44k and a laptop.
44k and a MACBOOK
Its the new sudden death app. Used mostly in long traffic jams and visits with in-laws. Go Apple
I know there's a good Futurama quote in here somewhere. Soemthing along the lines of a phone booth.etc...
Actually .... No.
His entire week leading up to the interrogation is on tape.
He lived in one of the worker communes.
Of course there are times when he was off tape.
But it's very unlikely he was beaten.
This is a sensationalist reporting filler for that off tape time because some Chinese news organization wanted to make a political statement about worker expoloitation in China.
I won't argue about Communism ... but communism nor corruption contributed to this man's death ... EOS.
wtf I hope that last sentence is a joke! " was given 44K and an apple laptop for his death"
In the USA we have NDAs and contracts for non compete.
Don't be silly.
Can someone tell me why this whole saga is such "omg breaking news," again?
One Chinese dude commits suicide, in a country where tens of thousands of people probably do so (or die of industrial pollution-related causes) every day, and his relatives get $44k in compensation, thereby making them the Chinese equivalent of billionaires, which I'm sure is a hell of a lot more than can be said for most of the other families.
In the meantime, all the other dead and dying people in developing nations get a pass. Darfur who to the what now?
This is a GREAT point...I'm sure Apple is currently working on getting even more press by opening up their new prototype plant in Darfur. Unfortunately, China is too tied to the civilized world...now, even a "suicide" raises too many questions...at least if you go for Darfur, a death raises fewer questions...sad, really.
Foxconn has confirmed thatSun Danyong's family was paid roughly $44,000 and given an Apple laptop as compensation for his death.
vomit.
lol, $44K and a laptop for his death compensation? Pathetic.
Didn't we warn you, Jobs and his associates will off you like the mob if you leak anything from within the company, loosing handsets is included.
Yes because a human life is worth exactly $44,000 and a Mac laptop. I wouldn't put it past a major corporation to kill someone over leaking a multimillion dollar prototype to a consumer market worth billions.
Not that I disagree with you completely...but being the eternal optimist, I'd like to believe that leaked prototypes, while dangerous in the hands of your competitors, does create a bit of the buzz you were hoping to create...I'd also like to believe that while Apple may have pulled the plug on Foxconn because of the danger a leaked prototype in China was...then Foxconn, upset because of the loss of a high-profile customer, subsequently tortured (and probably accidentally killed) Sun either to send a message or get the prototype back. Of course, because it was a death directly attributed to actions by Apple, I'm sure Apple was sympathetic.
While we here in the states scoff at $44,000...I'd venture to believe it goes a long way in China.
Look, no matter how we slice this, Apple has extreme egg on its face...it's a no-win situation for Apple. If you give nothing, you risk coming off as unsympathetic...if you give too much, it looks as if you were in on it (i.e. accessory to murder). The $44,000 that was given was probably the exact amount that some life insurance policy in China would have paid out.
I very much doubt anyone directly working for Apple US was involved in the death directly...but how the hell would you handle something like this? Seriously?
well, from previous experience, this "prototype" iphone will likely look exactly the same as the current, perform exactly the same as the current. the only difference now is it multitasks...now slap a 4g badge on it and price it accordingly.
Oh, but look on the bright side, chief...at least you won't have to post your jibberish in caps and misspelled words...once you get used to the keyboard, it auto-corrects your crap for you!
A MacBook surely will bring him back.
How about fire Foxconn, Apple?
WTF $44k and a laptop for a family of a dead worker. I think it was murder.
idk if its because im high right now, but this seems like:
apple: hey...mr.Danyong, where's the prototype?
danyong: oh yeah! that thing, i wonder what happened to it....
apple: mr.Danyong, find the prototype within the next 10 min, or you'll die...
danyong: shit....
just saying, sounds like a homicide is all..........
Yes was it suicide or did someone(s) throw him off? Maybe it was Jobs?
It's still Apple's fault.
wow, an apple laptop for as death compensation? now who in my family im willing to "let go"....*calls mother-inlaw
They gave the family a MacBook? Do they want more suicides? Seriously, this story stinks and Apple should do the right thing.
Are you serious? They were given an Apple laptop on top of the $44k? Wow.
-Blade Genexis
Was it a Macbook Pro?
Anything below that wouldn't be to die for.
I honestly don't understand why they gave the family a laptop. Is it supposed to mean something? The government shouldn't even have recognized payment-with-laptop as a legal method of compensation.
OK seriously even if you're beaten or whatever committing suicide is a personal thing. For all we know he probably thought his life was over because he had been caught and was going to be ruined or something. I mean why commit suicide even if they beat you or whatever? I'd quit and maybe go get evidence that they beat me then try to carefully get Beijing to intervene (meaning, camping outside with posters and getting them to arrest you and beat you again is not really the best way to do it but if you know how to play the game you can probably get the people responsible fired or whatever).
And frankly *somebody* always leaks these things to the KIRF guys so it's not entirely hard to believe that this guy really was leaking them. Even if you get the prototypes back (after they've probably been dissected and cloned) why are you constantly "misplacing" all the prototypes?
Because you assume that it was *just* due to torture/beating that he suicide. Anyone who is capable of torturing you is ALSO just as likely to threaten harm or ruin to your friends, family etc... And with the way things work in China/some asian countries, it's perfectly believable to think this could happen. And things being the way they are in some countries, it's perfectly reasonable to believe that companies will go through with their threats.
IF he had a history of losing prototypes, he would NEVER have gotten his hands on a device that is KNOWN to be a billion dollar money maker for the company and its partner. Never. The logic coming out of foxxcon is flawed and if that was true it only goes so far as to show their management is in complete ruin that they could make that kind of decision. If that was true, they are shooting themselves and their partners in the face with a shotgun, republican style.
Whatever way anyone believes in this case, the reality is foxxconn and Apple by extension (their prototype) look like evil conspirators to the public; or rather, it's a PR mess for a company trying to release their product into that particular region.
44k and a macbook...thats what your son's life is worth! :D
They can claim whatever they want, its not like "Sun Danyong" is in a position to dispute their claims.
do companies really think we're that gullible. Here in the USA his family could have sued for millions, but
in their country they only get $44,000 & a freaking laptop.
well... that is why all the jobs in North America are now shifted to China.
Suicide, or "suicide"?
Wow.. this looks like a buildup to the most successful buzz building leak ever! People dying, corrupt Chinese officials, and greedy megacorporations. It has everything!
Is an iPhone really worth this? Really worth making an employee to do this to themselves?
he died with a reason (loosing an iphone prototype) ... some people in china are dying without any reason (Communism).
R.I.P.
Why would a dead man's family need a laptop?
Maybe he's still alive after all.