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Apple and GT Advanced Reach Deal to End Partnership, GT to Sell Furnaces to Pay Debt
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But what are the "S"s in the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus going to stand for now since Sapphire is now looking unlikely. 3GSpeed, 4Siri, 5Security, 6S?
Of course they'll be 'fine', but someone, somewhere at Apple will have to account for the loss.
8X chips, 2 GB RAM probably the headline features. Curious if camera OIS will move down to the 6. Maybe some HomeKit stuff (which has really been overshadowed by all the other stuff recently). Plus a whole bunch of Apple Watch integration stuff (including HealthKit and Apple Pay), probably. Waterproofing? I'd bet against it, but possible.
I can guess how this will turn out. American companies are only interested in making money and not product. So what could GTAT possibly do with the sapphire furnaces and American labor in AZ? Nothing.
Who is going to buy the furnaces and the boules? My guess is a new company in China or thereabouts with which Apple will have contracts to manufacture the sapphire Apple needs.
Further, this deal will be successful.
America makes war and diabetes and fat people. That's about it.
Who is going to buy the furnaces and the boules? My guess is a new company in China or thereabouts with which Apple will have contracts to manufacture the sapphire Apple needs.
Further, this deal will be successful.
America makes war and diabetes and fat people. That's about it.
Basically all those sapphire iPhone rumors were wishful thinking from GT. When Apple finally broke the news that no, all Apple was interested in was Watch screens (which is the only product it made sense for), GT lost their **** and all their management decisions turned out to be terrible. It's a shame for GT, but they got themselves into this situation, drinking their own koolaid thinking sapphire was the solution to every problem. It's not.
This is strange and the big heads here are still making cash but too bad for the employees before the holidays! This company makes Sapphire and fails to make quality Sapphire when it counts? Something just doesn't seem right! And I'm surprised Apple doesn't take control of the equipment that's already paid for( With the employees ) unless theirs a huge flaw we don't know about! Hmmm
It appears Apple has come to the conclusion that for whatever reason, at this point in time, sapphire screens for iPhones are not feasible, and they may have decided to just cut their losses. By all accounts that contract with GTAT seemed skewed in Apple's favor, but GTAT freely accepted it and signed it, so my main regret goes out to those workers who now find themselves unemployed once again in a region where jobs are scarce to begin with.
Apple can source sapphire for the AppleWatch from several other sources, so it remains questionable whether they have any appetite to take over the remains of GTAT.
Apple can source sapphire for the AppleWatch from several other sources, so it remains questionable whether they have any appetite to take over the remains of GTAT.
"SOME of the proceeds"? So Apple will lose money on this? Sounds like they got the short end of the stick.
It's interesting that Apple appears to be abandoning sapphire for now. Corning must be pleased. Maybe Samsung will buy the furnaces.
It also sounds like Apple didn't do their homework on this at all. It appears that they gave their money to an incompetent company for a product they couldn't produce. It doesn't seem like Apple was too sharp on this deal.
the only one who got shafted through all of this is the GTAT shareholders... and I bet they never even get those guys for insider trading. i am just glad i pulled my investment in them out a few days before they declared bankrupcy and that wasn't an insider move, just good timing. had i thought twice about it an waited a few more days i would have been really pissed but as it is i still lost 20% on it over the past year. better then all of it into the pockets of the GTAT insiders.
speculation
1/ apple will not lose any money. the prices that can be obtained by GT on used sapphire kilns and sapphire boules will cover the amount owed to apple
2/ fact: GT CEO and COO both were able to sell off millions of dollars in shares of GT stock while knowing it was all coming down
3/ all employees will lose their jobs. operation will shut down. there will be words from both GT managers and even from apple about how they want to avoid hardships for the employees but these will be just words
4/ apple has already re-sourced their Watch supply of sapphire to other vendors
5/ going forward, sapphire is dead in the water as a replacement for gorilla glass for smartfones
my opinion: court in Arizona should NOT accept this "amicable agreement between apple and GT". it should be rejected and the employees be given an opportunity to reach an arrangement with an outside holding company to give the operation a chance to continue under new control with the current employees.
1/ apple will not lose any money. the prices that can be obtained by GT on used sapphire kilns and sapphire boules will cover the amount owed to apple
2/ fact: GT CEO and COO both were able to sell off millions of dollars in shares of GT stock while knowing it was all coming down
3/ all employees will lose their jobs. operation will shut down. there will be words from both GT managers and even from apple about how they want to avoid hardships for the employees but these will be just words
4/ apple has already re-sourced their Watch supply of sapphire to other vendors
5/ going forward, sapphire is dead in the water as a replacement for gorilla glass for smartfones
my opinion: court in Arizona should NOT accept this "amicable agreement between apple and GT". it should be rejected and the employees be given an opportunity to reach an arrangement with an outside holding company to give the operation a chance to continue under new control with the current employees.
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a lot less second hand and with the seller in a pinch. great time to be a buyer if you had a sapphire business that actually had it's act together. corning should buy them and finish up the original deal with apple and start a second line of products for other smartphone makers etc.
Wait, so GT is going back to what they wanted to do in the first place? Sell furnaces??? Now I'm really confused about the original deal...
Yeah. My thought on this is:
If Apple was willing to run a large-scale sapphire factory, they would have done so from the start.
There's nothing about GT Advanced going down that would make them change their mind. In fact, it would seem to reinforce the decision. If GT couldn't make it work well enough, why would Apple be able to?
The CEO should have to pay back some of the money made selling his shares, though that will never happen.
A big problem is now that Apple has stepped back from major sapphire use, who will want the furnaces? Unless Apple is already lining up another company.
A big problem is now that Apple has stepped back from major sapphire use, who will want the furnaces? Unless Apple is already lining up another company.
