Assembly line

If you’ve ever purchased an electronics product, chances are you own something that was manufactured by Foxconn. The colossal Taiwanese electronics giant employs over one million people, and has clients including Apple, Nintendo, and Sony. One of its current contracts includes the PlayStation 4, a product an intern has supposedly attempted to sabotage in response to poor working conditions.

According to a forum post republished on the IGN message boards, an intern working on the console pledged to impair the product in protest against the poor environment provided by their employer. “The PS4 consoles that we assemble can be turned on at best,” the message said. While there have been some isolated instances of breakages, the few cases were put into perspective over the weekend following Sony’s announcement that it had sold a whopping one million consoles in 24 hours.

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However, this does highlight a wider issue. Earlier in the year, Foxconn admitted to overworking Xi'an Technological University students who were forced to participate in a two month internship at the manufacturer. According to a Dongfang Daily report, the undergraduates were required to partake in the work experience or their diploma would be withheld. To its credit, the corporation did respond swiftly to the claims, stating that it had taken immediate action to bring the spotlighted campus into “full compliance” with its code and policies.

Sony also insists that external suppliers follow a ‘Code of Conduct’, which states that employees must be treated ethically and with respect. As a consequence, it’s unclear whether the abovementioned post is merely a hoax. There haven’t been enough reports of faulty consoles to suggest any indication that the product has been sabotaged – but broken devices pale into insignificance when people are being mistreated. Let’s hope that there’s little truth to any of this.

[source ign.com, via vg247.com, polygon.com]