“Where’s the money, Lebowski?”: Staff protest against the world’s first foldable phone maker after a year without pay

“Where’s the money, Lebowski?” is one of those catchlines that will stick for another 25 years at a minimum.

Royole workers, the world’s foldable phone pioneer, might not be the greatest “The Big Lebowski” fans out there, but surely they’re saying that line right now. And they’re not mumbling it under their noses, they’re having protests and they’re asking where their money is out loud. Although it’s notLebowski they’re after.

Royole is pretty far from being okay financially. The company has defaulted on its employee wages for a year after a crisis (via Gizmochina).

The story is as follows: around 50 Royole employees are having demonstrations with banners and slogans at the company’s Display Headquarters entrance in Shenzhen. Prior to the protests, they tried to talk with Liu Zihong, Royole’s CEO, but nothing happened and they went on to protest against the company itself.

It’s a nasty situation, as employees have not received their areas and wages since November 2022 and are now demanding to get paid “as soon as possible”. Thousands of company workers have already left after a devastating ongoing financial crisis in recent years.

The company says that their business has suffered significant losses and is only able to pay social security deposits, but that’s not nearly good enough for the remaining workers. There are about 200–300 employees who are still with the company, and who maintain the production line.

If you want to know more about Royole’s products, you should check out our review for the half-smartphone, half-tablet Royole FlexPai and once you read it, you’ll know why we went with the “All show, little practicality” title.