A Chinese company has threatened to sack its employees if they purchase the upcoming version of the Apple iPhone.
The warning came in the form of a "Patriotic Notice" sent by Hangzhou Bina Industrial Technology Company to all of its employees on Monday, according to the South China Morning Post citing mainland Chinese media.
The Post attributed the move as response to widespread anger in the mainland over what appeared to be a "glitch" in the iPhone software.
When Chinese iPhone users typed out the Chinese pinyin word "jichen," meaning "hit and sink," the word "China" would automatically appear as the first recommended word of choice, the report said.
The purported glitch has sparked rumors online that Apple's software developers were anti-Chinese--a claim that Apple has denied.
Hangzhou Bina, which is based in eastern Zhejiang province, warned staff that they would be sacked if they purchase the iPhone 7 model, which is expected to be released in September later this year.
The company also said that it would give incentives of 1,000 yuan ($150) to employees who swapped their iPhone 4 with a locally branded phone, 1,500 yuan if they replaced their iPhone 5 and 2,500 yuan for their iPhone 6.
Apple rejected claims that it was anti-Chinese, saying that the problem was the result of the phone's AI associating the pinyin words for "China" and "jichen" after online searches in mainland China for such words spiked in March following reports that an Argentinian coast guard vessel chased and sank a Chinese fishing boat that was allegedly fishing illegally in Argentine waters in the South Atlantic.
Huangzhou Bina told staff they would receive the bonus if they submitted an application form along with their iPhone to the company's general manager and gained his approval.
The surrendered iPhones would then be destroyed by the company, the report added.
An earlier survey revealed that the phones most widely used by the employees were from local Chinese brands Xiaomi and Huawei as well as Apple.
The report also said approximately 13 employees had expressed interest in changing their mobile phones, while six had asked for a copy of an application form, the report said.