Sapphire Manufacturer And Apple Parting Ways “Amicably”

Kinda makes you wonder what these two companies call "amicably." Heck, I'm surprised Apple didn't just buy the company and make its own sapphire screens.

Today, synthetic sapphire manufacturer GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) and Apple announced their agreement [PDF] to dissolve their partnership amicably after GTAT filed a surprising bankruptcy claim earlier this month. The proceedings threatened to expose information about Apple's dealings with GTAT, something Apple desperately wanted to hide, as evidenced by court filings from Apple asking that its objection to GTAT's Chapter 11 proceedings be submitted in secret.

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I'm sure it means GTAT gets a big sum of cash to keep their mouths shut.

Wait I have breaking news... GTAT lays off entire work force in midst of giving out handsome bonuses to board of directors and upper management.

hpglow said:

I'm sure it means GTAT gets a big sum of cash to keep their mouths shut.

Wait I have breaking news... GTAT lays off entire work force in midst of giving out handsome bonuses to board of directors and upper management.

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I doubt Apple pay GTAT to shut their mouth off, but more likely they are on the run with money. Otherwise why would GTAT executive cash out stock months before it happened?

The whole thing from GTAT is pretty fishy to me.

shansoft said:

I doubt Apple pay GTAT to shut their mouth off, but more likely they are on the run with money. Otherwise why would GTAT executive cash out stock months before it happened?

The whole thing from GTAT is pretty fishy to me.

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if they hadn't been able to reach an agreement then the bankruptcy proceedings would have become public along with information about the relationship between GTAT and Apple.

mope54 said:

if they hadn't been able to reach an agreement then the bankruptcy proceedings would have become public along with information about the relationship between GTAT and Apple.

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Which makes you curious about what they were trying to hide.

Apple probably wanted to drive them into the ground so then they can acquire them on the cheap and hoard the technology. What do you want to bet the executives of both companies were in on it?

since apple paid for their foundries and dumped hundreds of millions of unrecoverable funds into their coffers, that explanation might fit with "most unlikely"

shansoft said:

I doubt Apple pay GTAT to shut their mouth off, but more likely they are on the run with money. Otherwise why would GTAT executive cash out stock months before it happened?

The whole thing from GTAT is pretty fishy to me.

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I doubt it... here is what I think happened. The glass was behind in production. Apple withheld payment of funds they were not entitled to withhold. IE for products already delivered. To try and "encourage" GTAT to put a fire under their asses. GTAT didn't have the ability to speed up production any more than they already were, and couldn't make payroll. Apple then realized that if this story leaked while they were trying to launch a bunch of products it would make them look like dicks and possibly cut into their bottom line. Apple then tried to block details of the Bankruptcy. Once the courts informed them that it wasn't their bankruptcy to take public or not Apple then offered GTAT a cash sum to keep it quiet.

Option 2 that I think may have happened. The sapphire glass was not meeting demand for the amount of phones that Apple wanted to deliver. So even though GTAT may have delivered 50 to 80% of the glass (no one really knows) Apple didn't want some of their phones to look different so they contacted Corning and threw away all the sapphire glass and refused to pay GTAT for the entire shipment and cut of future deliveries. Even though they could have charged a premium for the 128G model and said hey look it has sapphire glass but instead they decided to be a-holes.

There is a good probability that Apple also only pays creditors every 90 days to further fuck with them (common place in the big corporate world), therefore when they get a big contract IE Apple they must get loans to pay for the bankroll during times of heavy OT for a product launch. I worked for a contractor that contracted to Intel and if they wanted their money before 90 days they had to take $0.50 on the dollar to get it early.

shansoft said:

I doubt Apple pay GTAT to shut their mouth off, but more likely they are on the run with money. Otherwise why would GTAT executive cash out stock months before it happened?

The whole thing from GTAT is pretty fishy to me.

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The GTAT stock was wildly over priced based on all the iPhone speculation, and the CEO took advantage of the high prices and dumped his stock. Getting a big contract can be major for these types of companies and speculators go wild because of it. I personally know a few people who own(ed) GTAT stock and were constantly talking about much their shares had risen because the glass was (supposedly) going to be used in the iPhone.

I don't understand all the rules the SEC has, or how they apply to situation, but assuming the CEO was in compliance with the SEC, I don't see anything wrong with him dumping his stock if speculators had driven it to unrealistic levels - he can buy his shares back when the stock prices come back to reality.

Just my thoughts.