Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Mobile
  3. News

A company asked employees who own an iPhone 7 to resign

Andy Boxall
By

Apple iPhone 7
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends
Have you already bought an iPhone 7? Did you get fired from your job after showing it around the office? We’d certainly hope not, but there is at least one company in China that is threatening similar action against employees that decide Apple’s latest smartphone is the one for them.

The Nanyang Yongkang Medicine Company, located in the Henan province, sent out a memo to staff explicitly telling staff not to buy the iPhone 7 or iPhone 7 Plus. Those that ignored the directive were told they should simply resign, according to the BBC’s translation of the document, which had been shared extensively on Chinese social media.

Recommended Videos

Related: Read our review of the iPhone 7 here, and the iPhone 7 Plus here

Related

There’s always a chance extreme messages like this are fake, or have been misinterpreted, but the company has verified the document. A local news outlet that spoke to the firm said the memo came from the chairman, but wasn’t a rally against the iPhone specifically. It was instead about promoting spending time and money on family, rather than an expensive smartphone. However, no-one has resigned or been fired for owning an iPhone 7 yet.

A hospital in China has also taken an anti-iPhone stance, and banned workers from buying the iPhone 7. While it’s not threatening anyone’s job, it does say Apple fans with an iPhone 7 in their hand won’t get a good appraisal in the future, may miss out on pay increases, and will be advised to return the device. It was a response to a member of the hospital’s team that had spent three months wages on an iPhone 7.

Again, like Nanyang Yongkang Medicine, this wasn’t really about the iPhone itself, but its cost. The manager told the BBC its company stood for diligence and frugality, and borrowing money or even selling organs to fund the purchase of an iPhone 7 didn’t fit in with this thinking. The iPhone 7 starts at the equivalent of $800 in China, and the iPhone 7 Plus from $960.

Apple isn’t having an easy time in China at the moment. It’s apparently now the fifth most popular smartphone manufacturer with a market share of 7 percent, down from over 9 percent this time last year, and behind Huawei, Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi — all of which are Chinese. Apple is doing its best to win approval in China, with major investments there including stock in local ride-sharing platform Didi Chuxing, and building a new research and development facility that will be completed by the end of the year.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Andy Boxall
Andy Boxall
Senior Mobile Writer
Andy is a Senior Writer at Digital Trends, where he concentrates on mobile technology, a subject he has written about for…
There’s a big problem with the iPhone’s Photos app
The Apple iPhone 15 Plus's gallery app.

While my primary device these days continues to be my iPhone 15 Pro, I’ve dabbled with plenty of Android phones since I’ve been here at Digital Trends. One of my favorite brands of phone has been the Google Pixel because of its strong suite of photo-editing tools and good camera hardware.

Google first added the Magic Eraser capability with the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, which is a tool I love using. Then, with the Pixel 8 series, Google added the Magic Editor, which uses generative AI to make edits that wouldn’t be possible otherwise. There are also tools like Photo Unblur, which is great for old photographs and enhancing images that were captured with low-quality sensors.

Read more
Why you should buy the iPhone 15 Pro Max instead of the iPhone 15 Pro
Someone holding an iPhone 15 Pro Max outside on a patio, showing the back of the Natural Titanium color.

If you want the best iPhone money can buy in 2024, you have two options: the iPhone 15 Pro and the iPhone 15 Pro Max. They have the same chipset, similar display technology, nearly identical cameras, etc. It's a really close battle, save for the fact that the iPhone 15 Pro is $200 cheaper.

It might be tempting to save some cash and choose the iPhone 15 Pro, but I recommend you splurge for the larger (and more expensive) iPhone 15 Pro Max. Why? Let me explain.
It's a big iPhone you won't hate using

Read more
This one thing could make iOS 18 the best iPhone update in years
The Home Screen on the iPhone 15 Pro Max.

Apple’s WWDC 2024 is just a couple of months away. As with every WWDC, we’ll see what Apple has in store for the next generation of software across its hardware portfolio, including the iPhone with iOS 18.

Rumors have been swirling about iOS 18 and how it will be “one of the biggest updates yet.” We know some features like RCS support in Messages are definitely coming, with other whispers of big home screen customization changes and more.

Read more