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GT Seeks to Void 'Oppressive and Burdensome' Agreements With Apple, Outlines Sapphire Wind Down Process
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Hey Apple: I can make a super strong case for the next iPhone. It'll be made of... umm.. well, unobtanium, ya... that'll wor..errr... that's what it IS.
It'll be awesome. Trouble is, I need a few bazillion dollars.
Just on loan though, I'm totally good for it. Swearz. It'll be ready in 6 months. Peace out.
(6 months later)
So about that unobtanium... well... see, the thing about that is, umm...
WAIT!?!? WHAT?!?! You aren't using my case?!?! WTF did I do... oh ya... the not delivering my promise thing. But that was totally not my fault. It was that Bush guy I'm pretty sure!
(I'll cash out $160K and then pull the plug... GENIUS!)
(SCENE)
It'll be awesome. Trouble is, I need a few bazillion dollars.
Just on loan though, I'm totally good for it. Swearz. It'll be ready in 6 months. Peace out.
(6 months later)
So about that unobtanium... well... see, the thing about that is, umm...
WAIT!?!? WHAT?!?! You aren't using my case?!?! WTF did I do... oh ya... the not delivering my promise thing. But that was totally not my fault. It was that Bush guy I'm pretty sure!
(I'll cash out $160K and then pull the plug... GENIUS!)
(SCENE)
There is more to this story, to find out who is at fault, if there is any fault at all. It could have been the fault of a third party that caused GT to miss its targets or GT's own issue. A judge will be the one who cleans up the mess, the only losers will be the employees.
.
Apple's PR is as bad as Microsoft's.
Who cares what happened, Apple looks like a fool because they can't speak to the situation at all. They are like "Uhhhh, whaaa?"
Apple's PR is as bad as Microsoft's.
Who cares what happened, Apple looks like a fool because they can't speak to the situation at all. They are like "Uhhhh, whaaa?"
It's so hard being right. 
So it's exactly as I said it was, GTA now realizes their product is more valuable then the contract put in place by Apple, and they are trying to get out of it. The court needs to uphold the contract and severely punish GTA.
GTA needs to lay down in the bed they made. It's as simple as that. They have their fancy factory right now, made possible by Apple, and they want to now gain their freedom from the contract. Very simply, they need to uphold the contract even if the courts need to force new management or force a deal for ownership to Apple.
So it's exactly as I said it was, GTA now realizes their product is more valuable then the contract put in place by Apple, and they are trying to get out of it. The court needs to uphold the contract and severely punish GTA.
GTA needs to lay down in the bed they made. It's as simple as that. They have their fancy factory right now, made possible by Apple, and they want to now gain their freedom from the contract. Very simply, they need to uphold the contract even if the courts need to force new management or force a deal for ownership to Apple.
My take:
GTA signs "oppressive and burdensome" deal with Apple in hopes that the sapphire screens would be part of the iPhone 6 improvements. "Oppressive and burdensome" really means Apple pushes hard to get it done. GTA underestimated the time and resources needed to bring their sapphire screen online on time. Apple has to drop the sapphire screen for the iPhone 6 and GTA is now broke with no product needed until iPhone 7. GTA can't tread water and bit off more than it could chew w/o being able to sell those screens to Apple today. Panic ensues and they are looking for a patsy i.e. Apple and it's "oppressive and burdensome" contracts and buying time with bankruptcy. CEO saw it coming and bailed ship when he sold his stock.
And $160,000 or whatever he sold it for is NOT big money. It's a drop in a bucket. It might get him through the next 6-12 months. Maybe. It's likely already spent in credit he's taken out in anticipation of hitting it big with an Apple sales contract.
Just my read on it. Perfectly normal business. Great product, bad timing. Happens all the time.
GTA signs "oppressive and burdensome" deal with Apple in hopes that the sapphire screens would be part of the iPhone 6 improvements. "Oppressive and burdensome" really means Apple pushes hard to get it done. GTA underestimated the time and resources needed to bring their sapphire screen online on time. Apple has to drop the sapphire screen for the iPhone 6 and GTA is now broke with no product needed until iPhone 7. GTA can't tread water and bit off more than it could chew w/o being able to sell those screens to Apple today. Panic ensues and they are looking for a patsy i.e. Apple and it's "oppressive and burdensome" contracts and buying time with bankruptcy. CEO saw it coming and bailed ship when he sold his stock.
And $160,000 or whatever he sold it for is NOT big money. It's a drop in a bucket. It might get him through the next 6-12 months. Maybe. It's likely already spent in credit he's taken out in anticipation of hitting it big with an Apple sales contract.
Just my read on it. Perfectly normal business. Great product, bad timing. Happens all the time.
Court is theater, folks. None of this necessarily means the relationship with Apple has soured-- it just means they're trying to get the sympathy of the court. The lawyers and PR folks are just trying to get the best of all worlds-- so there's going to be no shortage of apparently contradictory statements.
Bilateral agreements have a nice symmetry.
Ironically, this is how a lot of technologies make it to mass adoption-- the pioneers go bankrupt, all of the development costs are canceled out, and the next guy picks up the capital equipment dirt cheap and can sell without having to recoup R&D.
Maybe if GT lived up to the agreement, Apple would have used them for iPhone 6...
Bilateral agreements have a nice symmetry.
It's so hard being right.
So it's exactly as I said it was, GTA now realizes their product is more valuable then the contract put in place by Apple, and they are trying to get out of it. The court needs to uphold the contract and severely punish GTA.
GTA needs to lay down in the bed they made. It's as simple as that. They have their fancy factory right now, made possible by Apple, and they want to now gain their freedom from the contract. Very simply, they need to uphold the contract even if the courts need to force new management or force a deal for ownership to Apple.
The plan given to the bankruptcy court says they have submitted a plan to "wind down operations" at the facility. Doesn't sound like they plan on using the factory or the equipment going forward.
Exactly this, absolutely shameful behaviour.
Unfortunately, lighting a fire for the haters to gather round will work, Samsung will have another hilariously funny advert out tomorrow and my RSS feeds will be full of articles rubbishing other articles by the ever wishful thinking Apple-is-doomed brigade...
If GT get away with these shenanigans because the system is so far screwed as to accommodate what amounts to daylight robbery, then why would Apple want bring any more business home? Then there's the transfer of foreign capital tax situation - Talk about sh***ing on your own doorstep, what a mess.
P.S. Hi, I had an account on here "back in the day" on my eBay special G3 iBook, Panther was new and I once touched OS9 on purpose, I still remember the smell of my first new Mac, a 15" G4 PowerBook... Wish I could remember my login and read my old posts!
i don't know how it all suddenly started feeling burden, maybe now they think that (because of Apple) sapphire is way to popular and they can alone sell it at much better price and no longer need Apple.
I mean really, how often did you hear about sapphire glass before Apple's involvement? Now its hot property.
I mean really, how often did you hear about sapphire glass before Apple's involvement? Now its hot property.
Maybe if they would have been able to deliver the sapphire needed for the iPhone 6... Apple would have used it.
It's so hard being right.
So it's exactly as I said it was, GTA now realizes their product is more valuable then the contract put in place by Apple, and they are trying to get out of it. The court needs to uphold the contract and severely punish GTA.
GTA needs to lay down in the bed they made. It's as simple as that. They have their fancy factory right now, made possible by Apple, and they want to now gain their freedom from the contract. Very simply, they need to uphold the contract even if the courts need to force new management or force a deal for ownership to Apple.
Get a grip and get a clue. You think contracts are some moral obligation or something? It's a business tool. If it's more profitable to break a contract, that's EXACTLY what the company should do.
I recall GT's statement when they announced this project, in that they recognized it would cut their profit margin, but because of the size of the project they would earn even more profit in the long run and that their customer was putting up the seed capital...
Given how they touted the project to put a halo on the shares, I wonder if the SEC will investigate to see if this was somehow an inside ruse used to boost the share value, where GT insiders set themselves up to win big whether the company won or lost.
Given that the CEO was selling shares before the collapse, whether regularly planned or not, one needs to look at the size of the blocks being disposed of and how these tie into the engineering status reports regarding sale ability of the proposed product.
Given how they touted the project to put a halo on the shares, I wonder if the SEC will investigate to see if this was somehow an inside ruse used to boost the share value, where GT insiders set themselves up to win big whether the company won or lost.
Given that the CEO was selling shares before the collapse, whether regularly planned or not, one needs to look at the size of the blocks being disposed of and how these tie into the engineering status reports regarding sale ability of the proposed product.
They agreed to the contract, why is Apple suddenly a bully and arrogant? The company shouldn't have agreed if they didn't think they could keep up their side.
Until evidence surfaces showing otherwise, so far it seems as though GT just wants to blame Apple for their poor decisions and management.
Somehow, I don't think that's exactly how it went down. Had the deal with Apple worked out, I suspect that they stood to gain quite a bit more from it than Apple would have.
Sure, but there should be a penalty associated with breaking that contract (which I'm sure there will be, if that's how it works out).
Based on your name, I bet the only business deals you do involve $20 bucks and 15 minutes.
GT signed the deal and didn't deliver. Now they are acting like it is not their fault.
I see a scam
ok a few things I can see:
1. Get the courts to break the deals with apple, now they can not pay apple mach the $MMM's they owe, and keep the equipment too.
2. Funny that the boules take 30 days, and they got started just around the time they filed bankruptcy.
I hope the courts say no, and apple can take them over. Sounds like it's apple's equipment and money anyway. Just need to buy the workers and the IP.
ok a few things I can see:
1. Get the courts to break the deals with apple, now they can not pay apple mach the $MMM's they owe, and keep the equipment too.
2. Funny that the boules take 30 days, and they got started just around the time they filed bankruptcy.
I hope the courts say no, and apple can take them over. Sounds like it's apple's equipment and money anyway. Just need to buy the workers and the IP.
Agreed. The bankruptcy came as a shock to Wall St because GTAT hadn't indicated in their previous filings or guidance that they were approaching a cash crunch. It also seems like it was a surprise to Apple because (and this is speculation based on their bankruptcy motions and what little we know about the contract terms) GTAT seems to have realized that they were never going to be able to produce the sapphire at the quality and quantity Apple demanded, so the Chapter 11 motion is primarily an attempt to let them get out of the rest of it.
At the very least, in the shareholder derivative suit against the company's executives, I expect the plaintiffs will be able to prove that the company mislead investors about the likelihood of GTAT being able to meet its obligations under the agreement with Apple, and the financial implications for the company if it failed.
My guess is that they are looking to be able to sell the sapphire that's already been produced to someone else. Maybe it was "within spec" but Apple chose not to use it after sapphire-screened iPhones didn't pass the drop tests. It sounds like a contract dispute here.
This does seem to suggest that Apple indeed wanted to use sapphire for the iPhone 6 but opted out late in the game.
What kind of morons and ********s sign an oppressive and burdensome contract...? Those who signed such a contract shouldn't be in charge of so many jobs and careers...