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Apple's Failed Sapphire Glass Supplier GT Advanced Charged With Misleading Investors

I remember how many people were pouncing on Apple about this, back in the heady days where I was actually surprised at the number of Apple-oriented forum members ready to crucify Apple for someone else’s misdeeds. We’ll see if they come out of the woodwork here...
 
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joueboy said:
Steve Job's force field he took it with him when he died. Apple is no longer capable of convincing other companies that they can do it look at Intel 5G chips that's a big failure. Good thing Qualcomm is still willing to negotiate and saved Apple's future.
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I think you may have your rose-colored glasses on. Jobs was never able to 'convince' Freescale(Motorola)/IBM to make a G5 processor for laptops.
 
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chipb said:
Does anyone know where this company was located? I live in Salem MA and I believe thats where they were but it's been a while so I can not recall.
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Their headquarters are in Hudson, NH. Apparently they were building a factory in Mesa, AZ that Apple owns now.
 
Ohples said:
Apparently they were building a factory in Mesa, AZ that Apple owns now.
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The GT Advanced factory in Mesa, AZ had dozens of very expensive electric furnaces that were functional up until their sapphire products were determined to have been below set quality standards and then shut down. The electricity used was substantially sourced from a solar panel investment, which are now being utilized by Apple's data center. Not sure what eventually became of those expensive electric furnaces.

 
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Kabeyun said:
I remember how many people were actually pouncing on Apple about this, back in the heady days where I was actually surprised at the number of Apple-oriented forum members ready to crucify Apple for someone else’s misdeeds. We’ll see if they come out of the woodwork here...
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I think I remember people getting on Apple for 1. the onerous stipulations in the infamous "big boy pants" deal and 2. being hustled by a firm that already had red flags all over it related to it's equipment and processes. GT Advanced was over promising when almost every reputable source was saying they couldn't do what they claimed. Apple was caught out betting on a long shot. Hindsight says GT Advanced was an obvious hustle. Foresight at the time kinda said it too, but no risk - no reward, so Apple learned a lesson. All in all, no biggie.
 
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sinoka56 said:
The one I'm saying is the camera lens that Apple indicated in the specs as "Sapphire crystal lens cover"
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See this video. Same impure Sapphire that scratches at 6.
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Apples sapphire crystal glass is of low quality. They scratch more easily than a sapphire crystal glass on a Rolex for example.
 
cpfoto2005 said:
Jobs was never able to 'convince' Freescale(Motorola)/IBM to make a G5 processor for laptops.
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Motorola/FreeScale/NameOfTheDay were never capable of getting anything worth calling "G5", not even today.

IBM never did a low-power Power chips (also not even today) but I'd guess it was more a question of $ and Apple not willing to pay for the development of one, hence going Intel.
 
dannyyankou said:
Even if the deal with GT worked out, sapphire iPhone screens wouldn’t have been worth what the price increase would’ve probably been. Yeah they wouldn’t have scratched as easily, but they would be more shatter-prone.
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This was endlessly debated back in the day. It wasn't going to be a pure sapphire screen, it was supposed to be a layer bonded onto a glass substrate. Sapphire for scratch-resistance, glass behind it for other beneficial properties (including lower cost).

Since GT was not able to deliver on the promise, we don't know how well it would have worked in practice.

Scratches function as the chink in the armor - most cracked screens do not crack due to particularly high impact force - they crack because there's a point of weakness. When sapphire shatters, it shatters gloriously, but the initial force necessary to make that happen is far greater than the force that cracks most displays.

My first Apple Watch had (well, has) a sapphire crystal. Never scratched, never shattered. One person's experience, but pretty impressive. I'd never before had a watch I'd worn daily escape scratch-free.
 
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So, who's going to jail? Oh wait. It's white-collar crime, so they'll be sentenced to tennis clubs and community service aboard their yachts.
 
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guerro said:
Mesa, AZ
[doublepost=1556900529][/doublepost]It's now an Apple Data Center
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I never looked at their play as screens for iPhones but rather Apple Watch face and camera lens.
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I had missed the announcement in 2016 that GT had emerged from bankruptcy. Instead of repayment, I guess Apple acquired their factory space and turned it into a data centre?
 
coolfactor said:
I had missed the announcement in 2016 that GT had emerged from bankruptcy. Instead of repayment, I guess Apple acquired their factory space and turned it into a data centre?
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No, I believe Apple owned the building and built the solar array. GTAT used their massive factory. When the deal fell through, Apple retained the factory.

I owned some GTAT stock. I bought at around $10, it peaked a few months later at around $22 or so. Then the August earnings call from GTAT indicated all things looked good, especially for their project with their major client. Then when the iPhone (6, I think) was announced, analysts were confused there was no mention of sapphire glass. The stock still was doing ok in the teens. Around Oct 1, they announced they were suspending trading, and a few hours later they announced bankruptcy. When it resumed trading, the prices were at around 50¢. They clearly misled investors. I'm a little bitter, but it has changed my perspective on investing in small growth companies. I wasn't even all-in on sapphire glass. I liked that they held other patents on advanced solar technologies, among other things.
 
Ohples said:
Their headquarters are in Hudson, NH. Apparently they were building a factory in Mesa, AZ that Apple owns now.
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The factory was in Mesa and was operational. It was shuttered and then acquired by Apple who turned it into a data center.
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coolfactor said:
I had missed the announcement in 2016 that GT had emerged from bankruptcy. Instead of repayment, I guess Apple acquired their factory space and turned it into a data centre?
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Yep.
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Dhonk said:
No, I believe Apple owned the building and built the solar array. GTAT used their massive factory. When the deal fell through, Apple retained the factory.

I owned some GTAT stock. I bought at around $10, it peaked a few months later at around $22 or so. Then the August earnings call from GTAT indicated all things looked good, especially for their project with their major client. Then when the iPhone (6, I think) was announced, analysts were confused there was no mention of sapphire glass. The stock still was doing ok in the teens. Around Oct 1, they announced they were suspending trading, and a few hours later they announced bankruptcy. When it resumed trading, the prices were at around 50¢. They clearly misled investors. I'm a little bitter, but it has changed my perspective on investing in small growth companies. I wasn't even all-in on sapphire glass. I liked that they held other patents on advanced solar technologies, among other things.
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Actually, now that I think about it, I think you are right about Apple owning the building and then taking it back.
 
Kaibelf said:
Apple "deceived" people? Wrong. People just read 2 out of 30 words and then complain about how they were "misled." These same people complain every day about how Facebook should not be able to sell their info, yet still want a free service.
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Really? The same people? You know that how?

People complain about Facebook because Facebook is a de-facto monopoly in the space in which it operates. You're absolutely free to choose not to use Facebook or their products, and I do. That choice has also excluded me from more than one social group, and that's not a choice I'd ever say it's fair to force someone to make. That's a problem that only effective consumer protection regulation can solve, not the market.

For the record, I'd be happy to pay a reasonable fee for a product like Facebook if that meant I'd see no ads and my data would be mine. But that's not even an option.
 
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Dhonk said:
No, I believe Apple owned the building and built the solar array. GTAT used their massive factory. When the deal fell through, Apple retained the factory.

I owned some GTAT stock. I bought at around $10, it peaked a few months later at around $22 or so. Then the August earnings call from GTAT indicated all things looked good, especially for their project with their major client. Then when the iPhone (6, I think) was announced, analysts were confused there was no mention of sapphire glass. The stock still was doing ok in the teens. Around Oct 1, they announced they were suspending trading, and a few hours later they announced bankruptcy. When it resumed trading, the prices were at around 50¢. They clearly misled investors. I'm a little bitter, but it has changed my perspective on investing in small growth companies. I wasn't even all-in on sapphire glass. I liked that they held other patents on advanced solar technologies, among other things.
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That's a classic example of why the average small/medium investor shouldn't generally buy single stocks, and instead buy (professionally reviewed & run) mutuals/OEICs/investment trusts. Spreads the risk, so that if one part of the investment fails, there are others to pick up the slack.
 
Dhonk said:
No, I believe Apple owned the building and built the solar array. GTAT used their massive factory. When the deal fell through, Apple retained the factory.

I owned some GTAT stock. I bought at around $10, it peaked a few months later at around $22 or so. Then the August earnings call from GTAT indicated all things looked good, especially for their project with their major client. Then when the iPhone (6, I think) was announced, analysts were confused there was no mention of sapphire glass. The stock still was doing ok in the teens. Around Oct 1, they announced they were suspending trading, and a few hours later they announced bankruptcy. When it resumed trading, the prices were at around 50¢. They clearly misled investors. I'm a little bitter, but it has changed my perspective on investing in small growth companies. I wasn't even all-in on sapphire glass. I liked that they held other patents on advanced solar technologies, among other things.
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On the other hand there should be risk involved with betting on stocks. If your timeline is correct, apple wAs part of the deception. If there ever was one.
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jimthing said:
That's a classic example of why the average small/medium investor shouldn't generally buy single stocks, and instead buy (professionally reviewed & run) mutuals/OEICs/investment trusts. Spreads the risk, so that if one part of the investment fails, there are others to pick up the slack.
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But it’s ok if people want to take high risk bets.. just always be aware you could loose it all in an instant...
 
Until C-suite crooks and lax boards of directors and compliance department heads face significant incarceration as well as financial penalties for lying, aiding and abetting or looking the other way, the bad actors will continue to lie to investors, customers, shareholders, regulators.
 
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When it comes to Sapphire, I'll take mine in a glass with a little tonic. Gorilla Glass rocks!
 
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