iPhone Ignites 'Love Craze' in China

Only iPhone workers will get hefty wage hikes promised by Foxconn

(NEWSER) - Here's one way to avoid paying the hefty raises promised to 300,000 workers at the suicide-plagued Foxconn electronics plant in Shenzhen, China: move most of them to less expensive, remote plants in other parts of the country. Foxconn is apparently keeping the iPhone workers in Shenzhen, but moving Hewlett Packard and other production to Tianjin, Yantai, or Wuhan. The minimum monthly wage in the Shenzhen plant, near Hong Kong, is now 1,100 yuan ($161), China Daily reports, and as low as 900 yuan in the other locations. More»

(NEWSER) - A Chinese worker accused of stealing an iPhone 4G prototype jumped to his death from the 12th floor of his apartment building in the southern city of Shenzhen, the BBC reports. The man, 25, responsible for shipping 16 iPhone prototypes to Apple, had reported one missing. His friends say he felt humiliated after security guards sent by his employer, Foxconn Technology, searched his home, locked him in a room, and beat him. More»

Angry crowd is told 4S sale canceled

(NEWSER) - If notorious perfectionist Steve Jobs was still alive, today's bungled launch of the iPhone 4S in Beijing might have given him a heart attack. Would-be customers who waited all night in freezing temperatures became furious when Apple's flagship Beijing store abruptly announced that the phone would not go on sale as scheduled, AP reports. Police cordoned off the store after the angry crowd pelted it with eggs. More»

4s to be launched in China, 21 other countries

(NEWSER) - Apple is about to get more than a billion new potential customers for the iPhone 4s—but many of them may find it tricky communicating with Siri just yet. The smartphone will be launched in China and 21 other countries next week, and while its voice-activated virtual assistant currently only speaks English, French, and German, Apple says it plans to add Mandarin later this year, the Los Angeles Times reports. More»

China suicide cluster baffles manufacturer

(NEWSER) - A 21-year-old man who jumped out a window to his death Saturday marks the ninth suicide of a worker at Foxconn, the Taiwanese-owned manufacturer of iPhones and iPods. The deaths of young employees—combined with the fact that the company says it has prevented some 30 suicides in the past 3 weeks—show the signs of a suicide cluster, and have the company so baffled it has brought in a Buddhist monk to purge the plants of evil spirits. More»