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Auto kingpin attacks Apple fans at 'weiya'By Ted Chen, The China Post February 9, 2013, 12:03 am TWN    Yen was seen brandishing his new HTC (宏達電) Butterfly handset and extolling the phone maker and its management. “I bought the Butterfly handset with my own money, it's really great!” Yen said. Allegedly under the influence of alcohol, Yen later had some harsh words for consumers of foreign smartphone brands such as Apple. Yen was heard saying “Those who use iPhones and that other brand I won't mention are (expletive)” during his tirade, in addition to implying that they are not patriotic. All banquet prizes were of Taiwanese origin, including HTC handsets and automobiles produced by Yulon and Luxgen, with Yen pledging to purchase over 2,600 HTC tablet computers and distribute them among employees as gifts. A HTC spokesperson responded that they are grateful for Yen's commendations. Incidentally, the North Korean Leader Kim Jung Un was spotted in January using a handset rumored to be the HTC Butterfly, while HTC Chairwomen Cher Wang (王雪紅) was recorded stating that “HTC is a Chinese brand” as she was giving a speech in China in July of 2010, which caused a row in Taiwan. Meanwhile, a group of HTC engineers recently wrote an open letter to HTC CEO Peter Chou (周永明) protesting the alleged cancellation of promised bonuses. The engineers claimed that since the company enacted the responsibilities-based workload distribution scheme in 2003, their daily working hours have increased from 8.3 to 12 hours a day without additional overtime compensation. In addition, the engineers claimed that their vacation days were reduced to one day a week, and that the company policy of yearly resets prohibited the rolling-over of accumulated vacation days to the next year. HTC responded that scheduled bonus payments were carried out last year in the third quarter, and that funds should have reached their bank accounts on Feb. 5, while advising employees to consult their managers on the issue of overtime compensation. The Council of Labor Affairs (CLA, 勞委會) commented that no matter the workload distribution scheme a company may have, employees may not work more than 12 hours per day, and are required to have one vacation day per week. The CLA indicated that an investigation will take place once a formal complaint has been filed, and that if these allegations are found to be truthful, HTC will be subjected to fines ranging from NT$20,000 to NT$300,000.
6 Comments  Submit Your Comment February 10, 2013 in.sanxia@ Reply Apple spends billions of US$ in Taiwan building those products this ignorant person is asking us not to buy. If Taiwan can design products as good as Apple, then we will buy. February 12, 2013 elumpen@ What an idiot. Is this the caliber of person who runs Taiwan's "top" companies? Can anyone imagine the late Steve Jobs - a man famous for egotistical ranting - doing this in public? People don't buy Luxgen products (and many other Taiwanese brands) because they're not very good. It's that simple.And incidentally, an HTC phone is made largely with components, intellectual property, or production line equipment imported from the US, Japan and Korea. There isn't much about it that's "Taiwanese". February 15, 2013 curtisakbar@ What phone you have doesn't show how patriotic you are, whether you litter, help the local community and follow the laws does. He is yet another narrow-minded pro-Taiwan-anti-foreign individual forgetting that Taiwan needs the world more than the world needs Taiwan. I love my HTC one X phone and SYM scooter, so before you come attacking me, remember I'm very patriotic with my Taiwanese products! February 16, 2013 hukech@ According to the founder and Chairman of HTC, there aren't any Taiwanese phone makers in Taiwan anyway... all the phones I see on the market are "Chinese", Korean, Japanese, European, American.... February 16, 2013 ludahai_twn@ Someone very close to me got an HTC to be patriotic and two broke down within two weeks before finally getting one that works. I avoided it and got a Nokia because I have had great experience with Nokia products... and I love my Nokia smartphone. Much better than HTC. February 19, 2013 freeman70@ The second part of the story interests me. The employees complaining about overwork. The article stated that the Council of Labor Affairs may fine HTC up to NT$300,000 for violations. A token slap on the wrist. Most likely, the monthly expense account for most executives in the company is more than that. Paying the fine would be much cheaper than paying overtime compensation. That is, if the bureaucratic procedure to launch a complaint doesn't stop it before any fine is levied. People have to wake up and realize that litigation and government fines are included in the cost of doing business for most corporations. The same goes for return policies and warranty claims. They will only take notice and change when it costs a lot of money or the claimant is particularly persistent or troublesome. |
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