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Foxconn Rumored to Produce Sapphire Displays for Apple's Next iPhone

Apple really is interested in Sapphire to go to this extreme.

What... A failing GT isn't proof enough?

ok,,,, now it will be Foxconn.... Lets keep going until every single company goes bust.. Only then will we hang up our gloved ans say "Nice work Tim"
 
avanpelt said:
Let me get this straight...Foxconn is currently seeking to build a plant and the expectation is that they can get the plant built, get the manufacturing equipment installed, get the equipment up and running, and be able to churn out usable sapphire in mass quantities all in less than one year? If they're able to pull all that off, I'll be absolutely astounded.
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haha I totally agree ... no way they will pull this off in 1 year ... but its china.. anything can happen!

On a side note.. no matter what device you will buy ... apple will be working on next version ! its all about money ....
 
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Asians will continue to produce everything better and cheaper. "Made in USA" it's a dream.
 
k1121j said:
hmm will they buy the used furnaces from GT what a steal only slightly used
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If GT can't recover from bankruptcy, their assets will be auctioned off, including these furnaces. The money will be paid to the creditors. Assuming Apple is the biggest creditor, most of what is paid for the furnaces goes to Apple, so Apple could afford to put in very high bids for the furnaces (if they assume that the money owed won't be repaid anyway).
 
Tech198 said:
Apple really is interested in Sapphire to go to this extreme.

What... A failing GT isn't proof enough?

ok,,,, now it will be Foxconn.... Lets keep going until every single company goes bust.. Only then will we hang up our gloved ans say "Nice work Tim"
Click to expand...

Why not? This doesn't prove that sapphire screens aren't feasible (from a spec perspective), they just ran into some productive problems which can eventually be resolved.

Besides, Apple isn't forcing anyone at gunpoint to make those screens. If those companies think they can't handle the order, then don't accept it, rather than start pointing fingers after the fact.
 
ApfelSchaf said:
So much about bringing manufacturing jobs to the US.

... and still, many consider buying Apple products a "patriotic" act.

For shame, Apple, for shame.


:(
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The American company messed up. They claimed they could manufacture, but they couldn't. And most of Apple's customers are not in the USA and therefore have not the slightest reasons to buy anything from Apple for "patriotic" reasons.
 
miknos said:
Asians will continue to produce everything better and cheaper. "Made in USA" it's a dream.
Click to expand...

Cheaper? Yes, but that's because they are slaves. Makes it easy to be cheap. Better? Nah, most products from China are pure JUNK. Just head to your local Wal mart or wherever and handle some of the products. Chinese stuff is 95% garbage.

Nice try though.

gnasher729 said:
The American company messed up. They claimed they could manufacture, but they couldn't. And most of Apple's customers are not in the USA and therefore have not the slightest reasons to buy anything from Apple for "patriotic" reasons.
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Messed up? Oh right, they were going to pay people living wages with benefits! The utter craziness of that. How could they consider such a thing? Better to use indentured servants and or slaves in China. How ever you want to sell it to yourself is fine but everyone knows the real reason everything is made by slaves now. HINT: slaves are cheap and disposable. There ya go.
 
Abazigal said:
Why not? This doesn't prove that sapphire screens aren't feasible (from a spec perspective), they just ran into some productive problems which can eventually be resolved.

Besides, Apple isn't forcing anyone at gunpoint to make those screens. If those companies think they can't handle the order, then don't accept it, rather than start pointing fingers after the fact.
Click to expand...

True, but you do realize Apple won't rest until they do get Sapphire.

What a coincidence that GT ran into production problems right around the same time Apple also wanted massive quantities of Sapphire....
 
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Tech198 said:
True, but you do realize Apple won't rest until they do get Sapphire.
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I don't presume to be some expert in engineering, but if Apple persists, that might mean that they do legitimately see some merit in using sapphire glass in the iPhone. Nothing wrong with that, imo.
 
Tech198 said:
True, but you do realize Apple won't rest until they do get Sapphire.

What a coincidence that GT ran into production problems right around the same time Apple also wanted massive quantities of Sapphire....
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You do realize lost 500M out of the deal hey!! That's one hell of a R&D expense don't you think! Man, get a grip! They got mostly nothing put promise from GT that maybe they'd get the money back if GT sells the furnaces... Not a chance.
 
s2mikey said:
Cheaper? Yes, but that's because they are slaves. Makes it easy to be cheap. Better? Nah, most products from China are pure JUNK. Just head to your local Wal mart or wherever and handle some of the products. Chinese stuff is 95% garbage.

Nice try though.



Messed up? Oh right, they were going to pay people living wages with benefits! The utter craziness of that. How could they consider such a thing? Better to use indentured servants and or slaves in China. How ever you want to sell it to yourself is fine but everyone knows the real reason everything is made by slaves now. HINT: slaves are cheap and disposable. There ya go.
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Quite the tirades from someone who appears to own 2 pieces of that Chinese junk.
 
s2mikey said:
Cheaper? Yes, but that's because they are slaves. Makes it easy to be cheap. Better? Nah, most products from China are pure JUNK. Just head to your local Wal mart or wherever and handle some of the products. Chinese stuff is 95% garbage.

Nice try though.



Messed up? Oh right, they were going to pay people living wages with benefits! The utter craziness of that. How could they consider such a thing? Better to use indentured servants and or slaves in China. How ever you want to sell it to yourself is fine but everyone knows the real reason everything is made by slaves now. HINT: slaves are cheap and disposable. There ya go.
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Indeed and I smell a rat.
 
mscice said:
haha I totally agree ... no way they will pull this off in 1 year ... but its china.. anything can happen!

On a side note.. no matter what device you will buy ... apple will be working on next version ! its all about money ....
Click to expand...

China can build an entire city in a year. I think they can build a factory to produce an existing product in the same time frame. The only barrier is cost, and if Apple can afford to blow 3big ones to hire a rapper and a huckster I think they can afford to make sapphire happen if they really want it to.
 
s2mikey said:
Messed up? Oh right, they were going to pay people living wages with benefits! The utter craziness of that. How could they consider such a thing? Better to use indentured servants and or slaves in China. How ever you want to sell it to yourself is fine but everyone knows the real reason everything is made by slaves now. HINT: slaves are cheap and disposable. There ya go.
Click to expand...

Messed up, yes. The got several hundred million dollars from Apple, more than enough to pay their employees. They just couldn't get things working. With lower wages, things still wouldn't have worked. Your comments about "indentured servants and slaves" are just stupid. China has lower wages but also a much lower cost of living than the USA. And Foxconn is paying substantially better wages than other companies in the industry in China.

Assuming you are American, by calling the Foxconn workers "slaves" you are insulting a huge part of the population of your own country, whose ancestors were indeed slaves with no pay, no freedom to leave whenever they wanted, no way to work hard for two or three years and return to their home with their pockets full of money.
 
I don't see Foxconn going bust over this one as some people seem to think.

For starters I see the next iPhone will use sapphire and we already know the Apple Watch will. I can imagine there will be other markets for the sapphire, perhaps in other industries like actual watchmaking or automobiles.
 
charlituna said:
But can they overcome the inherent flaw in 'large' pieces of sapphire that causes it to shatter on the first drop. That is likely the reason Apple tested but never ordered displays
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Your comment is at best inaccurate. There isn't any reason that Apple wouldn't have tested screens from synthetic sapphire of existing manufacturers; it would have certainly happened prior to the GTA partnership.

I don't know that the GTA sapphire production would have been targeted at the iPhone. If you consider that the partnership was not an academic exercise, then presumably the sapphire production would have been used for something that required more than doubling of worldwide sapphire production. Screens would certainly consume a lot of sapphire, and there were rumors to that effect.
 
TMay said:
Your comment is at best inaccurate. There isn't any reason that Apple wouldn't have tested screens from synthetic sapphire of existing manufacturers; it would have certainly happened prior to the GTA partnership.
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I never said they didn't test using the material for full screens or that they only tested from GTA. you are trying to imply that from what I said but that doesn't equal to the truth.

As for the doubling comment, they are using sapphire for Touch ID buttons, which are now on many more devices in production, camera lens cover and allegedly for the apple watch which they hope sells like hot cakes. So that is enough to need far more sapphire than what was available.
 
http://www.kyoceramobile.com/brigadier/

This company has sapphire screens on there smart phones, I'm sure they won't sell as many as Apple will, but they must be buying the sapphire screens from somewhere. Is Apple just trying to mass produce them cheaper vs buying from an existing supplier?
 
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