GT Advanced Asks Court for Permission to 'Wind Down' Operations at Sapphire Plant

[HyperZboy]

Everybody agrees that this whole bankruptcy thing is so fishy at GT that the management must have done something terribly wrong. Right now it seems that they just wanted to get out of the AZ plant and dump the whole mess to Apple.

On the other hand, Apple is talking about preserving jobs in AZ. How could they do that if the facility produces low quality sapphire that Apple does not want?

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700 jobs is nothing compared to the tens of thousands of people laid off by some other tech companies like HP in recent years.

As for the jobs, it's nearly 900, but that's irrelevant except in a PR perspective for Apple.

But once again, there's the assumption that Apple chose not to buy the Sapphire glass because it's poor quality. I haven't read this anywhere by any legitimate source. It's not even clear how late GT was in producing the product. What is clear in the filings is that they do have product to sell but can't sell it to anyone.

Under bankruptcy law, unlike with business dealings, lying to the court is perjury and punishable. GT obviously has the glass. And if they don't, they'll be punished.

HENCE BANKRUPTCY. Apple is only surprised because they're going to have to disclose stuff they'd rather not disclose.

No Steve Jobs Reality Distortion Field will work here! LOL

 

[OatmealRocks]

Yes

Oh boy.. I feel for you.

 

[Lannoc]

Oh boy.. I feel for you.

Win some, lose some.

As I said, it was a flyer, and while I didn't think they would go bankrupt, I was willing to roll the dice.

 

[MasterChat]

GT Advanced are not the only manufacturer of sapphire so I'm sure Apple will be able to find another supplier for the watch.

I just hope the cost will not be affected that much.

 

[vomhorizon]

Saphire for the watch isn't going to be all that big a deal imho, its the phones that could get thrown off. We may see this slip to the iPhone 7 instead of the iPhone 6S and 6S+ for example. I wonder if apple can reach a deal with GT to co-buy the arizona facility and license produce the sapphire through another sapphire maker.

 

[Keirasplace]

And still Apple didn't choose sapphire over gorilla glass...

Obviously, they chose it, since they wouldn't have paid the 500 million; or do you think they lend that kind of money on a lark. The issue seems to have been a manufacturing issue instead of a suitability for the phone screen issue.

 

[OatmealRocks]

Win some, lose some.

As I said, it was a flyer, and while I didn't think they would go bankrupt, I was willing to roll the dice.

I hear ya.. bankrupt would be the last possibility I would of thought would happen. GT screwed up big time and in many ways unfortunately.

 

[macs4nw]

Did Apple just waste all that money then?

For lack of a currently better explanation, is it possible that, gasp, perhaps Apple themselves actually, gasp, screwed up here, by overestimating the durability of such potential iPhone screens, and after extensive drop testing concluded these sapphire phone-sized displays were unsuitable after all for their flagship devices?

After which, with these exclusivity agreements, both Apple and GTAT find themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

GTAT by having their hands tied as far as revenue-generating sales to third parties is concerned, and Apple by having invested heavily in technology they are at this moment not likely to use in large quantities, if at all, and also having promoted, very publicly, American labor, while now possibly unable to recoup these fairly sizeable investments.

Perhaps the coming months as well as those Chapter 11 proceedings will shed more light on this for now baffling turn of events.

 

[beenthere2]

Oh how i wish i could tell the story from my point of view but due to my signing that i will keep my mouth shut when i got laid off i can't .... i worked with the prior company when GTAT bought them out and then it was a viable company making money but not enough to survive (Crystal Systems) Check the Co. out we produced the first and largest boule ever grown... GTAT was our knight in tainted armur ... i gave them 5 yrs to get rid of us ... lol .. only took 4 .... SMFH at what they have done to the company the investors and the thousands of workers ... PPM

 

[Keirasplace]

For lack of a currently better explanation, is it possible that, gasp, perhaps Apple themselves actually, gasp, screwed up here, by overestimating the durability of such potential iPhone screens, and after extensive drop testing concluded these sapphire phone-sized displays were unsuitable after all for their flagship devices?

After which, with these exclusivity agreements, both Apple and GTAT find themselves between the proverbial rock and a hard place.

GTAT by having their hands tied as far as revenue-generating sales to third parties is concerned, and Apple by having invested heavily in technology they are at this moment not likely to use in large quantities, if at all, and also having promoted, very publicly, American labor, while now possibly unable to recoup these fairly sizeable investments.

Perhaps the coming months as well as those Chapter 11 proceedings will shed more light on this for now baffling turn of events.

You don't think they tested that for a god damn while before committing to manufacturing it, a brand new type of screen Saphire laminated with Gorilla glass? And, according to those results and a small batch manufacturing test, THEN decided to manufacture it for their phone, extending 500 million dollars for it.

Seriously, you are funny. You seem to have a weird view of how engineering works? You think people just jump out of bed and put saphire on a phone manufactured in 50M copies.

 

[macs4nw]

You don't think they tested that for a god damn while before committing to manufacturing it, a brand new type of screen Saphire laminated with Gorilla glass? And, according to those results and a small batch manufacturing test, THEN decided to manufacture it for their phone, extending 500 million dollars for it.

Seriously, you are funny. You seem to have a weird view of how engineering works? You think people just jump out of bed and put saphire on a phone manufactured in 50M copies.

Well, it is quite possible the current 'state-of-the-art' in Sapphire manufacturing does not meet the expectations they had at the outset, so these screens couldn't yet be manufactured at large enough quantities in time to be considered for inclusion in the new iPhone models. None of us know the real reason why Apple apparently is not yet buying these highly scratch resistant screens, purportedly causing the current financial difficulties at GTAT.

If you have additional info none of us are privy to, please share.

 

[furi0usbee]

Obviously, they chose it, since they wouldn't have paid the 500 million; or do you think they lend that kind of money on a lark. The issue seems to have been a manufacturing issue instead of a suitability for the phone screen issue.

With the recent events at GT... Nobody can say what Apple hand in mind...

 

[grahamperrin]

… then it was a viable company making money but not enough to survive (Crystal Systems) Check the Co. out …

Will do – thanks.

 

[vomhorizon]

Apple invested in the facility, which it still has rights over.. Is it possible for them to lease the Arizona facility out to another Sapphire maker and begin things from scratch?

 

[OatmealRocks]

Apple invested in the facility, which it still has rights over.. Is it possible for them to lease the Arizona facility out to another Sapphire maker and begin things from scratch?

No. I'm sure GT was the best option for Apple. Bringing another less than ideal supplier would be the worst decision.

 

[vomhorizon]

Well, GT can sell the IP if they are really down in the dumps, or license it for a time period. The point is, if this company goes under or is severely damaged it need not mean that apple has no other option but to abandon sapphire for ever. That would be quite a ridiculous assertion to make. It may put a significant dent in their projected timelines, perhaps they may only be able to get sapphire out by iP7 or even 7S, but they could still use the material. Which maker does the sapphire for Vertu?

 

[OatmealRocks]

Well, GT can sell the IP if they are really down in the dumps, or license it for a time period. The point is, if this company goes under or is severely damaged it need not mean that apple has no other option but to abandon sapphire for ever. That would be quite a ridiculous assertion to make. It may put a significant dent in their projected timelines, perhaps they may only be able to get sapphire out by iP7 or even 7S, but they could still use the material. Which maker does the sapphire for Vertu?

You are assuming GT has a special process for sapphire that is different than others which I don't think they do. They are not the only sapphire makers in the world, however I am not sure for smartphones.

 

[kdarling]

Well, GT can sell the IP if they are really down in the dumps, or license it for a time period.

GT's contract with Apple appears to forbid licensing their IP or otherwise selling products that would help anyone other than Apple for use in consumer electronics.

(Apple did something similar with Liquid Metal, getting exclusive rights to its use in consumer electronics.)

 

[vomhorizon]

GT's contract with Apple appears to forbid licensing their IP or otherwise selling products that would help anyone other than Apple for use in consumer electronics.

(Apple did something similar with Liquid Metal, getting exclusive rights to its use in consumer electronics.)

I know that, but what I was suggesting was they and apple agree to an arrangement where GT sells the IP to a third party that then signs another tight agreement with apple and makes these screens for them.

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You are assuming GT has a special process for sapphire that is different than others which I don't think they do. They are not the only sapphire makers in the world, however I am not sure for smartphones.

I have no direct knowledge of that. From what I have read over the last few months, GT apparently had some IP that allowed them to do this for apple better then others. Kdrarling probably knows more but I seriously doubt that if GT goes out of business, or decides to walk away from the contract, that apple has to abandon its plans to bring Saphire into its smartphone lineup. In my opinion Apple may require another partnership and that may take time, but if this is a material that they want to work with in the long term, they'll find a workaround.

 

[joneill55]

No no no. There's a lot of other stuff I hate. Children, liver, traffic jams, One Direction, diarrhoea... the list is endless.

So, I guess I'm the devil then. That would explain a lot.

Well at least you are aware. 2 points for that one!