The Curse of Apple's Sapphire Factory. Bloomberg By Adam Satariano Fri, Oct 10, 2014,
Apple's iPhone 6 event on Sept. 9 came and went, without a mention of the hardened sapphire screens expected to be used in the new phones. This week, GT Advanced filed for bankruptcy and asked a court for permission to shut down the Arizona factory. The company plans to eliminate 890 jobs in Mesa and at its headquarters in New Hampshire, according to court papers.
Oct 10 (Reuters) - GT Advanced Technologies Inc said it will cut 890 jobs, close an Arizona plant expected to make scratch-resistant screens for Apple Inc, and suggested it could pursue legal claims against the iPhone maker while revamping under bankruptcy.
GTAT Blames ‘Burdensome’ Apple Terms in Sapphire Halt
By Dawn McCarty Oct 10, 2014 4:44 PM CT
(GTAT) asked for bankruptcy court permission to shut down its synthetic-sapphire operations, citing terms of a contract with Apple Inc. that it called “oppressive” and “burdensome.
GT Advanced, based in Merrimack, New Hampshire, filed for bankruptcy this week, less than a year after announcing an agreement to supply sapphire to Apple. (AAPL) The substance is used to make screens on mobile devices more durable. The company told the court today that it was going through cash too fast and must halt operations in Mesa, Arizona, and Salem, Massachusetts, by Dec. 31, at a cost of 890 jobs.
“The cash burn at GTAT’s sapphire manufacturing operations for the benefit of Apple is not sustainable,” the company said in court papers. “The relief requested in the wind-down motion is necessitated by GTAT’s liquidity crisis and the substantial daily cash burn of in excess of $1 million with respect to such operations.”
