Unless it an elaborate publicity stunt, iPhone maker Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) has reportedly shown how hard it can be on careless employees.
Numerous news agencies are reporting that Apple has fired an engineer whose daughter, Brooke Peterson, posted a video on YouTube showing footage of her checking out the iPhone X, which has yet to be released.
The video quickly went viral, and although Peterson took the offending footage down from the video-sharing site, other versions of it are still out there in the wild.
The footage was filmed on the Apple campus last month, where Brooke Peterson was meeting her father for lunch. Apple prohibits unauthorized filming on its campus.
In a subsequent posting on YouTube, a remorseful Petersen said her father had been fired for breaking a rule.
"It was an innocent mistake, and he fully apologises," she said, adding that the family bore Apple no grudge – raising suspicions that this is a long line of “accidental” leaks of new Apple products.
Customers were able to start ordering copies of the iPhone X last Friday, but already reports have emerged that customers were being told they would have to wait weeks to receive the new model, indicating that current supplies have already run out.
IPhone X sold out https://t.co/troHum7iqD
— Jen Molina (@jen_molina16) October 30, 2017
Shares in Apple nudged 0.28% higher on Tuesday to US$167.18. There were reports yesterday of frenzied demand for the new smartphone.