A Shenzhen-based LED screen company called Menpad has banned employees from using Apple products for three years in a show of support for Chinese tech companies. The move was sparked after Huawei CFO Meng Wanzhou was recently arrested in Canada. Meng was released on bail in Vancouver today after spending ten days in Canadian custody.
According to an announcement released on Menpad's website earlier in December, they will fine employees 100 percent of the cost of whatever Apple product they buy in the course of the next three years.
Screengrab via Sohu
According to Technode, the company will also subsidise 15 percent of purchases by employees who snap up Huawei and ZTE products instead.
Ms. Sun, a marketing employee at the company, told That's “we introduced the new rule following the recent arrest of Meng [Wanzhou], and as a patriotic Chinese, our boss wanted to show support for Huawei, a company that China takes pride in. The new rule will be in place over the next three years."
READ MORE: Huawei CFO Granted Bail of USD7.5 Million in Vancouver
Also stipulated in the announcement by the company was the fact that employees are not allowed to buy American cars, although they will be rewarded with double commissions if they manage to export products to the US.
It has been bad news of late for Apple, after older iPhone models were deemed illegal for sale in a Chinese court for violating two patents of chipmaker Qualcomm. According to Reuters, the ban is part of a global battle between the two American multinational companies, which just happens to have spilt over into China.
READ MORE: Huawei CFO Arrested in Canada, Faces US Extradition
[Cover image via Unsplash]
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