Pakistanis angry over detentions in Times Sq. case Monday, May 24, 2010
ISLAMABAD – Relatives of three men detained by Pakistan for alleged links to the suspect in the attempted Times Square bombing say the men are innocent.
They
AFP - Thursday, August 6TAIPEI (AFP) - - Taiwan's Beijing-friendly government on Wednesday denied boycotting an Australian film festival amid a row over the e
BERLIN (Reuters) - Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered a double blow on Thursday as a senior party ally in east German
Minister seeks closure of anti-Berlusconi websites Wednesday, December 16, 2009
ROME (AFP) - – The Italian government moved Tuesday to close down Internet sites encouraging further violence against Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, who
By ELAINE KURTENBACH,AP Business Writer AP - Wednesday, March 18SHANGHAI - Asia's stock market rally seemed to be running out of steam Wednesday, despite an
My Profile
Top News
Reuters top ten news stories delivered to your inbox each day.
Subscribe
You are here:
Home
>
News
>
Technology
>
Article
Home
Business & Finance
News
U.S.
Politics
International
Technology
Internet
Entertainment
Sports
Lifestyle
Oddly Enough
Health
Science
Special Coverage
Video
Pictures
Your View
The Great Debate
Blogs
Weather
Reader Feedback
Do More With Reuters
RSS
Widgets
Mobile
Podcasts
Newsletters
Your View
Make Reuters My Homepage
Partner Services
CareerBuilder
Affiliate Network
Professional Products
Support (Customer Zone)
Reuters Media
Financial Products
About Thomson Reuters
Foxconn suicide turns spotlight on China counterfeiting
Thu Jul 30, 2009 2:52am EDT
Email | Print |
Share
| Reprints | Single Page
[-]
Text
[+]
By Don Durfee
HONG KONG (Reuters) - One week after the apparent suicide of a Chinese factory worker accused of stealing a carefully guarded Apple iPhone prototype, one question remains unanswered: what happened to the missing phone?
Sun Danyong, the 25-year-old suicide victim who worked at contract cellphone maker Foxconn International's massive gray and white factory complex in Dongguan, had 16 prototypes of Apple's new fourth-generation iPhone in his possession, according to the Taiwanese company.
When one went missing, Foxconn's security guards raided his apartment, according to a report in the People's Daily. The phone didn't turn up.
A likely answer, according to security experts, is that the device ended up in the hands of Shenzhen's notoriously entrepreneurial counterfeiters.
"The copying of prototypes certainly happens a lot in the electronics and IT industries," said Dane Chamorro, a regional general manager with Control Risks, a corporate investigations consulting firm. "You don't have to steal them, you just have to borrow one for a day."
A Foxconn representative wasn't available for comment. The company is a supplier to top brands such as Motorola, Nokia and Sony Ericsson.
In an earlier interview with the New York Times, Foxconn's general manager for China said that Mr. Sun had previously lost products "several times" before getting them back again.
Apple computer, whose popular iPhone is widely copied in China, isn't the only foreign handset maker to suffer at the hands of counterfeiters. Knock-offs of Samsung, Nokia and Motorola products are all sold openly throughout China.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, 81 percent of all counterfeit goods seized at the U.S. border were from China. The value of those goods rose 40 percent in 2008, to $221.7 million.
"Mainland China is the riskiest place for foreign firms to introduce their leading-edge technologies," said Steve Vickers, president of Hong Kong-based FTI-International Risk. "It remains a major problem."
A recent visit to the Golconda Cyber Plaza, a sprawling electronics mall in Shenzhen, suggests the scale of the challenge. Hundreds of vendors were showing off their knock-off mobile phones, including counterfeit Nokia and Samsung handsets, and the latest Apple iPhone, which was selling for about US$63, far cheaper than the US$579 charged on Apple's Hong Kong online store.
"The iPhone quality is good and quite steady," said Li Jinhui, a salesperson with Shenzhen Guanghui Communication, one of the phone sellers, pointing at one of the counterfeit phones on display. "The real phone price is too expensive, so many people buy this instead."
STOLEN DESIGNS
The copying takes several forms. In some cases, companies copy phones already on the market. In others, local suppliers of foreign companies run extra shifts and sell the surplus goods on the side. Then there are the designs that get stolen even before production.
This last form may be the most damaging, since it undermines costly efforts to build anticipation about upcoming products. Continued...
View article on single page
Share:
Del.icio.us
Digg
Mixx
Yahoo!
Facebook
LinkedIn
Next Article:
Microsoft, Yahoo in 10-year Web search partnership
Also on Reuters
Commentary: Fed volunteers to burst bubble
Starbucks and McDonald's carve coffee niches
House husbands go for TV glory in new U.S. show
More Technology News
Mac flaw could let hackers get scrambled data
Microsoft, Yahoo in 10-year Web search partnership
| Video
Lawmaker urges regulations for file-sharing
Yahoo investors disappointed, but hold out hope
Waking up is getting serious on smartphones
More Technology News...
Editor's Choice
Slideshow
A selection of our best photos from the past 24 hours. Slideshow
Most Popular on Reuters
Articles
Video
Organic food is no healthier, study finds
As U.S. recession bites, Ohio hopes fade for Obama
Unemployment spreads distress in U.S. home loans
Madoff gives feeder fund managers' names to lawyer
Foxconn suicide turns spotlight on China counterfeiting
House Democrats clinch healthcare deal
House Democrats reach deal on healthcare bill
Starbucks, McDonald's carve coffee niches
Californians' global warming concern cools: poll
Canadians cry foul over U.S. healthcare attacks
Most Popular Articles RSS Feed
Video
US, UK meet on Afghanistan
Obama steps up healthcare push
Obama sees U.S. economy improving
Drug crackdown in Mexico
Jackson doctor update
Spain bomb targets police
Ukraine border visa troubles
Opposition clashes in Kyrgyzstan
Uighur leader calls for probe
Car bomb injures dozens in Spain
Most Popular Videos RSS Feed
Techonlogy news
Web giants get together
Microsoft and Yahoo have inked a 10-year Web search deal to better compete against market leader Google, but stopped short of combining their display advertising businesses. Full Article
In Facebook's shadow
While competing with Facebook is no easy challenge, some small social media sites appear to be finding their footing and growing at rapid rates, albeit from a very low base. Full Article
NY singles go online
The Big Apple has edged past Boston, Chicago, Seattle and Washington, D.C. as the best U.S. city for singles, thanks in large part to online dating. Full Article
UK writes Twitter guide
The British government has published a guide to help ministers understand how to use the social networking site, with the aim of extending its news and corporate messages online. Full Article
eBay holds up its stars
EBay will slash fees by 20 percent for its top-rated sellers and push their listings higher up in the search queue, part of steps to try to rev up its long-stagnant Marketplaces arm. Full Article
Reuters.com:
Help and Contact Us |
Advertise With Us |
Mobile |
Newsletters |
RSS |
Labs |
Archive |
Site Index |
Video Index
Thomson Reuters Corporate:
Copyright |
Disclaimer |
Privacy |
Professional Products |
Professional Products Support |
About Thomson Reuters |
Careers
International Editions:
Africa |
Arabic |
Argentina |
Brazil |
Canada |
China |
France |
Germany |
India |
Italy |
Japan |
Latin America |
Mexico |
Russia |
Spain |
United Kingdom |
United States
Thomson Reuters is the world's largest international multimedia news agency, providing investing news, world news, business news, technology news, headline news, small business news, news alerts, personal finance, stock market, and mutual funds information available on Reuters.com, video, mobile, and interactive television platforms. Thomson Reuters journalists are subject to an Editorial Handbook which requires fair presentation and disclosure of relevant interests.
NYSE and AMEX quotes delayed by at least 20 minutes. Nasdaq delayed by at least 15 minutes. For a complete list of exchanges and delays, please click here.