14 DAY TRIAL // The world’s second largest phone manufacturer and first-place aspirer Huawei has decided to punish the employees who posted a New Year message on Twitter using an iPhone.
The gaffe, which made the rounds on December 31, put Huawei in a bad light, especially as the company managed to overtake Apple and is now trying to beat Samsung to become the leading phone maker worldwide.
According to a report from Bloomberg, Huawei demoted and cut the pay of two different employees, both of which are believed to be working for an agency in charge of the company’s social accounts.
The workers received a 5,000 yuan ($730) penalty from their monthly salary, plus a single-level demotion, Huawei told employees in a memo that was obtained by the cited source. One of the members of the marketing team that received the sanction is believed to be the head of Huawei’s digital marketing team.
“The incident exposed flaws in our processes and management,” Huawei was quoted as saying in the memo.
Security efforts
Huawei, which is hoping to overtake Samsung as the world’s leading company by 2020, is also struggling to deal with accusations of cyberespionage, with several governments and agencies claiming its equipment poses a risk for national security.
The United States, which recommended against using Huawei and ZTE solutions, warned its partners that the two companies may be spying for Beijing, though no evidence has been offered in this regard until now.
“Locking out competitors from a playing field cannot make yourself better. We think any concerns or allegations on security at Huawei should be based on factual evidence,” rotating chairman Ken Hu was quoted as saying. “Without factual evidence we don’t accept and we oppose those allegations.”
Huawei has also pledged to spend billions of dollars on cybersecurity improvements over the next 5 years in order to improve its products and collaborate with governments on proving that its equipment isn’t being used for spying activities.