Apple and GT Advanced Reach Deal to End Partnership, GT to Sell Furnaces to Pay Debt

[MarcoCapa]

Did Apple tried on purpose to tank the company in order to buy subsequently all of its assets, technology and IP at a cheaper price and place its hands on the whole business? - good for Apple but bad for its reputation.

Or

Did Apple involuntary drived the company to insolvency and now will take the chance to buy all of its assets, technology and IP at a cheaper priece and place its hands on the whole business? - good for Apple and irrelevant for its reputation

Who knows?

Yes in any cases apple would buy the company... Yours is a good point!

 

[jorgk]

Around $300 to $400K apiece. Supposedly Apple had an exclusive for GTAT's biggest furnaces (200 kg boules vs 115-165 kg for other buyers), so use the high end of that.

Thus, Apple got a big discount on those 2000 units (investing only 440 million instead of 800, just by going via GT).
Pity is only that the market price for such units will be way down since all world knows there are 2000 units standing around, almost brand new ...

 

[dilbert99]

Did Apple tried on purpose to tank the company in order to buy subsequently all of its assets, technology and IP at a cheaper price and place its hands on the whole business? - good for Apple but bad for its reputation.

Or

Did Apple involuntary drived the company to insolvency and now will take the chance to buy all of its assets, technology and IP at a cheaper priece and place its hands on the whole business? - good for Apple and irrelevant for its reputation

Who knows?

GT Advanced will sell off more than 2,000 sapphire furnaces, with some of the proceeds going to Apple as repayment for the $440 million loan the company gave GT to purchase the sapphire equipment.

...There was some speculation that GT Advanced was aiming to force Apple into taking over the sapphire operation, but it appears that Apple is not interested as both parties seem to want out of the deal.

Sounds more like Apple doesn't want the furnaces or the company...

 

[Mike Oxard]

"SOME of the proceeds"? So Apple will lose money on this? Sounds like they got the short end of the stick.

Not quite:-

eliminating the jobs of more than 727 employees in the coming weeks. ]

 

[OatmealRocks]

Does Apple not check out a company before it gets into bed with it? Were the books cooked?


OR


did Apple cause this company to tank?

You serious? Neither. Clearly GTAT didn't meet its milestones.

----------

The article states that Apple are getting their money back.

Yes but not all of it and a lot of wasted effort and risks. At least Apple had alternate options with other (Asian) suppliers to get the iPhone 6 out to market with no interruptions.

----------

Did Apple tried on purpose to tank the company in order to buy subsequently all of its assets, technology and IP at a cheaper price and place its hands on the whole business? - good for Apple but bad for its reputation.

Or

Did Apple involuntary drived the company to insolvency and now will take the chance to buy all of its assets, technology and IP at a cheaper priece and place its hands on the whole business? - good for Apple and irrelevant for its reputation

Who knows?

Holy talk about horrible assumptions and no Apple will not be biting the company.

 

[DeadSeaMac]

Did Cook field any questions at Monday's conference call regarding GT, sapphire production, and/or use of sapphire in the next generation iPhone (and possibly future iPad displays)?

 

[samcraig]

I smell a rat here, the CEO talked a good talk. He was able to convince Apple to invest when in reality he knew they would never make the grade. Then just before iPhone 6 gets announced he dumps the shares and makes a lot of money....

Why do people give so little credit to Apple? It's as if people think that Apple didn't do any due diligence or have regular check ins with the company. Does anyone REALLY think that Apple just cut come big checks and said "let us know when the Sapphire is ready?"

 

[mac8867]

Personally, I think it's hilarious to watch this unfold. A year ago we were all talking about the "End of Gorilla Glass," and how Corning was no longer the darling of the iOS world. When the CEO of Corning Glass said, "We are not concerned. We have looked a Sapphire, and it just won't work." We as a community said, that's crap, Apple knows what its doing... Guess not. Hey, everyone makes mistakes I guess.

 

[KPOM]

Did Cook field any questions at Monday's conference call regarding GT, sapphire production, and/or use of sapphire in the next generation iPhone (and possibly future iPad displays)?

No. I haven't re-read the transcript but if he got a question at all he gave the stock answer from their press releases.

 

[Robert.Walter]

I smell a rat here, the CEO talked a good talk. He was able to convince Apple to invest when in reality he knew they would never make the grade. Then just before iPhone 6 gets announced he dumps the shares and makes a lot of money....

I wonder how much of the details of this story will leak once the shareholder and employee lawsuits, and the SEc investigation of GT management all get rolling.

 

[JHankwitz]

I sure do hope that several people at Apple get their butts fired over this. Someone sure dropped the ball on their part. It takes more than a contract to make a partnership work.

I hope Apple manages Apple Pay better than how they managed this project.

----------

"SOME of the proceeds"? So Apple will lose money on this? Sounds like they got the short end of the stick.

It takes two to tango. With the smarts Apple supposedly has, they could have averted this mess long ago.

 

[Rogifan]

I sure do hope that several people at Apple get their butts fired over this. Someone sure dropped the ball on their part. It takes more than a contract to make a partnership work.

I hope Apple manages Apple Pay better than how they managed this project.

What should they be fired for?

 

[samcraig]

Personally, I think it's hilarious to watch this unfold. A year ago we were all talking about the "End of Gorilla Glass," and how Corning was no longer the darling of the iOS world. When the CEO of Corning Glass said, "We are not concerned. We have looked a Sapphire, and it just won't work." We as a community said, that's crap, Apple knows what its doing... Guess not. Hey, everyone makes mistakes I guess.

Here are some great threads to read

Corning Again Criticizes Sapphire as Potential Alternative to Gorilla Glass
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1713342/

Corning Pits Gorilla Glass 3 Against Sapphire, Plans Reflection Reduction and Antimicrobial Technology
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1585655/

and

Smartphone Manufacturers 'Lukewarm' on Sapphire, Call Material Impractical Due to Cost and Supply
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1753491/

 

[WrQth]

If i were to hazard a guess, i think it's possible that in their original agreement, Apple essentially wanted GTAT to undertake some of the materials R&D to see if it would be possible to manufacture sapphire on the scale needed to create a screen cover for an iPhone. Apple provided the cash upfront to buy the equipment to facilitate that R&D effort.

Again, purely speculation, but if that R&D didn't result in usable product, maybe Apple isn't "all-in" on sapphire for iPhone display covers after all. Perhaps at the required size and thickness, sapphire is too brittle, and maybe the resilience of Gorilla Glass makes it a more suitable material for that application. Kudos to them for trying.

Sapphire may work out perfectly in a display the size of the WATCH, and i'm sure there are several other sapphire manufacturers Apple could choose from, since sapphire in that size is already commonplace in the watch industry.

I agree, this sounds more likely the realistic scenario of how the deal was structured between Apple and GT.

I thought I read somewhere it was rumored/speculated the sapphire created would be less expensive due to a new process Apple had patented. If this were the case it could have affected the price of the Watch but likely Apple would have kept the same price they announced and kept the great margin for themselves.

 

[TMay]

Here are some great threads to read

Corning Again Criticizes Sapphire as Potential Alternative to Gorilla Glass
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1713342/

Corning Pits Gorilla Glass 3 Against Sapphire, Plans Reflection Reduction and Antimicrobial Technology
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1585655/

and

Smartphone Manufacturers 'Lukewarm' on Sapphire, Call Material Impractical Due to Cost and Supply
https://forums.macrumors.com/threads/1753491/

Does anybody really think that the GTAT / Apple partnership was ever even about iPhone screens? The quick negotiation and capitulation by both parties to a negotiated settlement wrapped in extreme secrecy belies the work on other future device(s) or component(s). What would be gained with such a level of secrecy if it were only about a failed sapphire iPhone screen? The PR damage has already been done, pundits have made their assessments, named their victim and villain, but the story so far has remained safely buried, to Apple's benefit.

 

[samcraig]

Does anybody really think that the GTAT / Apple partnership was ever even about iPhone screens? The quick negotiation and capitulation by both parties to a negotiated settlement wrapped in extreme secrecy belies the work on other future device(s) or component(s). What would be gained with such a level of secrecy if it were only about a failed sapphire iPhone screen? The PR damage has already been done, pundits have made their assessments, named their victim and villain, but the story so far has remained safely buried, to Apple's benefit.

I don't think there are any innocents in this scenario. As with business, both companies acted in their own best interest. Whether sapphire was going to be used in phones (it never had to be the 6 - maybe it was going to be the 6S or 7, etc) or some other device. Pretty irrelevant.

But maybe some forum posters here consider that Apple doesn't always know best or make the smartest deals. I appreciate they try to push boundaries. But that doesn't make them right all the time. The writing seemed to be on the wall on this one from within the industry.

 

[DeadSeaMac]

No. I haven't re-read the transcript but if he got a question at all he gave the stock answer from their press releases.

Thanks. I just read the transcript. Cook made no mention of GTAT and sapphire during the conference call.

 

[iSee]

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.

5/ is why 1/ is not going to happen. Apple won't come anywhere close to getting their money back. Without smartphones -- and who's going to jump in with both feet after this -- the market for sapphire production isn't going to have a lot of demand for these things. This will flood the market, though, so sapphire production will probably a lot cheaper for a while.

 

[2010mini]

I fear a disgruntled employee might take revenge on the CEO.

 

[rivertrip]

Yep, I think even Apple has mentioned this before, its not just the cost but the amount of hoops you have to jump through to get even something started let alone finished makings it a big challenge to manufacture at scale in the U.S

You think the location of the plant, rather than an inability to manufacture at scale, was the reason for the commercial failure?

 

[bbplayer5]

You're kidding, right? Or missing an /s tag? The trend is for companies to focus on their core business and to get their materials from the market (who supposedly know more about that core business). I can't imagine anyone but the most die-hard vertical integrationist thinking Apple getting into the sapphire business would be a wise move.

lol oops forgot my /s haha

 

[Tech198]

*waves bye-bye to GT*

If GT are selling their furnaces to pay for debt, why the hell would they wanna start up again and go down the same path ?

They wouldn't


They had a good run...

It would be closer to Apple to manufacture in the U.S ... However, if GT have trouble with demand, what makes u think Apple could do any better, regardless of location. ?

Its demand that counts... reduce the large demand, and I would have bet GT wouldn't be in this situation.

 

[DeadSeaMac]

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?

+2

For those speculating that Apple will take over this Mesa plant to save 800+ jobs for the local community have missed the mark.

What surprises me in this debacle is that Apple clearly did not vet GTAT as well as they should have. Clearly GT's CEO was smiling at the Apple Gift Horse with the million dollar drool still wet on his face promising Apple they could produce high quality sapphire without any problems. GTAT clearly did not have the technological finesses and prowess to manufacture a sapphire display that met Apple's stringent demands.

The only real question in terms of logistics is this: What compelled Apple to seek a manufacturer in the United States to produce high quality sapphire that would have to turn around and ship it to China for the assembly of the display on an iPhone? Couldn't the Chinese manufacture high quality sapphire at a reduced cost in terms of manufacturing AND shipping costs?

 

[BornAgainApple]

My very first job ended with a liquidation sale. That was the first time I realized that it's all BS. I can't explain how it really made me feel. I'd never had to 'deal with' anything before that. I was just a kid.

Good luck to the employees there. Chances are not many knew they were about to lose their jobs.

I've been through Chapter 11 before. The first company I worked for after I left the army "merged" with Worldcom. Before we "merged", the CEO said more than once "I love this company, we're going to do great things together and I will not sell!" No, we "merged". I despise that word. After that, I will NEVER trust a CEO again...not even Tim Cook.

 

[DeadSeaMac]

I've been through Chapter 11 before. The first company I worked for after I left the army "merged" with Worldcom. Before we "merged", the CEO said more than once "I love this company, we're going to do great things together and I will not sell!" No, we "merged". I despise that word. After that, I will NEVER trust a CEO again...not even Tim Cook.

Worldcom? There's a blast from the Enron past...