$109. I paid to get mine fixed last week. Small price to pay to not have to stare at a giant scratch for 1-2 years.
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Apple Trying to Help GT Advanced Meet Milestones, Holds Off on Asking for Loan Repayment
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$109. I paid to get mine fixed last week. Small price to pay to not have to stare at a giant scratch for 1-2 years.
Lol @ integrity. It's funny how the people who have NO IDEA how Apple operates other than reading an article on MR or WSJ chime in with uneducated and baseless comments like this only bc they are fanboys at best.
Exactly. Even Corning has had enough and Apple is basically the reason they are still around from years back. Sad but true.
Not sure about the inability to sell to others, however they certainly had a plan for more than the bulk of what they were doing to goto Apple it seems. Waaaaay too much reliance on one project, and then the rug gets pulled out from under them and poof.... where we are now.
Again. It's funny how the people who have NO IDEA how Apple operates other than reading an article on MR or WSJ chime in with uneducated and baseless comments like this only bc they are fanboys at best.
Wish there was a Kool-Aid icon.
Isn't the sport version already made with gorilla glass and strengthened by ion some thing or something
They asked for exclusivity in exchange for lending them over $500 million to build out a plant for making the sapphire in the first place. That's entirely reasonable. The problem isn't that they can't sell the sapphire. The issue is that they seem to not be able to produce enough of it in as high a quality as Apple needs.
My Wife Hits it on the Head
My wife and I are new investors---so wouldn't you know it that the first major investment we ever make was at $18 a share in a little company called GTAT.
Recouped a little bit of my losses the day after Armageddon hit ... but today, not so much. My wife just made an interesting comment. She said, "Maybe Apple wants to buy them after driving them into this bad position... but Apple can't because it will freak out every future Apple supplier pretty much forever. NOBODY will ever trust Apple again. On the other hand, Apple cannot let them go bankrupt (chapter 7) because then Apple loses its money (yes, I know that 600 million is chunk change to Apple... but it's still money). So she says, perhaps this is the middle ground. Don't buy them because you can't scare the crap out of other future suppliers ... but don't let them die on the vine either. Instead, just work with GTAT and keep them afloat. Then appear to be the reasonable partner in the relationship.
My wife and I are new investors---so wouldn't you know it that the first major investment we ever make was at $18 a share in a little company called GTAT.
Recouped a little bit of my losses the day after Armageddon hit ... but today, not so much. My wife just made an interesting comment. She said, "Maybe Apple wants to buy them after driving them into this bad position... but Apple can't because it will freak out every future Apple supplier pretty much forever. NOBODY will ever trust Apple again. On the other hand, Apple cannot let them go bankrupt (chapter 7) because then Apple loses its money (yes, I know that 600 million is chunk change to Apple... but it's still money). So she says, perhaps this is the middle ground. Don't buy them because you can't scare the crap out of other future suppliers ... but don't let them die on the vine either. Instead, just work with GTAT and keep them afloat. Then appear to be the reasonable partner in the relationship.
Good guy apple? They are just trying to cover themselves, in hopes that saphire works out. Right now they don't have too much differentiating them.
Apple is sticking it out likely because withdrawing now would mean losing every cent of their initial investment without having anything to show for it, and because no other company can provide the quantities they need. So it's in their best interests to make sure GT doesn't go belly-up yet.
It's a purely business decision, no more or less.
"s part of its loan agreement, Apple was entitled to ask GT Advanced for repayment if its cash holdings fell below $125 million, but Apple has opted not to demand repayment."
If they don't have the money, then why ask?
Something still sounds a little weird on this deal.
If they don't have the money, then why ask?
Something still sounds a little weird on this deal.
People are making a lot of assumptions on the relationship between GT and Apple, with the so called facts only based on rumors. And GT is getting hammered here. Naturally Apple is the innocent good guy.
It's never been confirmed that the iphone 6 was suppose to have sapphire glass, this could be a deal around the watch or any other product.
Nor do we know what the technical obligation was that GT failed to deliver on time.
I'm sure the details will come out in time.
It's never been confirmed that the iphone 6 was suppose to have sapphire glass, this could be a deal around the watch or any other product.
Nor do we know what the technical obligation was that GT failed to deliver on time.
I'm sure the details will come out in time.
I guess you saw me on Monday. I kept telling the wall, "how did I buy in at $18 a share?"
Exclusivity deals are very dangerous when your the little guy.
Especially when they lend you money. Like being stuck in a mortgage
hahaha... yeah so dangerous you might make a quick 10 mil on it personally before declaring bankrupcy
good guy apple?
if it was any other company you can bet they wouldnt do the same.
the $500 million is an investment for potential future product differentiation that can potentially earn Apple billions - sapphire screens.
not good guy apple... smart guy apple....but in this case also bad luck apple.
Great PR for good guy Apple. They will remain the darlings while Same-song burns & shrivels!
How is this good PR? Forget about the repaying the loan part for now, that's a PR move . GT still owes them 500 million +
A company Apple went into business is going bankrupt . That is good PR?
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hahaha... yeah so dangerous you might make a quick 10 mil on it personally before declaring bankrupcy
That's just the owner.
How about all the people set to lose jobs smartarse??? You think that is funny? Working for a company that goes bankrupt can be hell on families .
What about investors that lose thier money . ??
Pathetic !
Why would you sign an exclusive contract with a company with no guarantee they would buy your product? I don't care if it's Apple and I don't care if they're trying to do the right thing. Maybe GT was blinded by dollar signs and promises of massive wealth, but I would have a hard time signing a contract so heavily weighted against me.
Really? It sounds to me like they have a chance to acquire GTAT on the cheap if they just call in GTAT's loan repayment.
Not sure why they would shore them up at this point, unless other creditors have superior rights relative to Apple. Then I guess Apple would shore them up for the time being.
I know a guy who worked at Enron. He was just about ready to retire when the scandal broke, the stock crashed, and a huge chunk of his investments went up in flames. These are the kinds of real people that get hurt in the shuffle. I'm not saying anyone did anything against the law, but real people, hard working, loyal to their company, can't expect that same loyalty back anymore.
Yeap, it's pretty easy to smell a rat with this whole issue with Apple smack bang in the middle of it! Give it a few more weeks or months and Apple will basically either own their ass, or will have bought them for utter peanuts. It's underhand and legal and goes on every day in the corporate world.
Do you actually know what Gorilla Glass is?
It's ion-strenghtened glass.
Do you know what Apple is using on the iPhone 6?
Ion-strenghtened glass. Just not provided by Corning.
As to the GT agreement, here are some details on the deal (the prepayment is NOT a loan):
http://seekingalpha.com/news/1383152-apple-strikes-sapphire-furnace-supply-deal-with-gt-advanced
Nobody forced them into the agreement. They could have stuck to their original business model and let Apple make an agreement with someone else.
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Acceleration clauses are pretty common in debt deals. In some cases, they enable creditors to force a company into Chapter 11 if they determine that's the best way to recover their loans.
Yeah. I'm sure that's what happened. And then GT, who had fulfilled their contract wouldn't threaten to sue Apple for reneging on the deal. Instead they'd quietly file bankruptcy...