Tweet may cost Apple man his job

Bt Kim Yoo-chul

Apple appears to enjoy a touch of mystique — it rarely reveals anything important in advance such as the unveiling of new products.

The American technology giant also keeps its representatives around the world mum. “No comment” is their typical response. Nothing was wrong with this, but it may cost Korean spokesman who was caught using Twitter his job.

Apple doesn’t allow its people to tweet, some sources say.

Following the ruling by a U.S. jury in a court in San Jose favoring Apple over Samsung Electronics, an employee believed to be a spokesman for Apple Korea tweeted that Korean media was too sympathetic toward Samsung, raising the question of what if it lost other patent fights in other countries, with a tad of cynicism.

The official declined to confirm whether the Twitter account was his personal one but the user name was changed after the tweet was reported in The Korea Times.

The man who identified himself as an Apple spokesman made a request over the telephone to change his personal tweets to an official Apple response.

He is now traveling on business.

He tweeted to an unnamed follower: “I want to talk only about the truth here. If it’s a lie, then it’s right not to talk.” Most of the comments were written in Korean.

“The Twitter account was a source to better understand or read Apple’s unauthorized views just as background information about some key pending issues as Apple normally doesn’t give any comments officially. I hope the official continues to run the Twitter account because as a reporter this is helpful,” said one source.

Last week, a court in Japan ruled Samsung didn’t infringe on Apple’s patents and the ruling drew keen attention though the impact of the verdict seems minimal considering Apple’s victory in California.

Right after the ruling, Apple released an official press release. “The lawsuits between Apple and Samsung are about much more than patents or money. They are about values.

At Apple, we value originality and innovation and pour our lives into making the best products on earth. We make these products to delight our customers, not for our competitors to flagrantly copy,” the release said.