Apple Looking To Keep Sapphire Hopes Alive

The Apple and GT Advanced partnership might be dead, but the Sapphire plant in Arizona could still live on. Apple is reportedly seeking a way to keep the plant alive, possibly even producing Sapphire glass as planned. Though GT won't be involved, Apple is reportedly looking into how they can reap benefits from their sizable investment. GT, which owns the equipment and is selling it off to pay Apple back the $439 million paid via a loan in their partnership agreement.

Speaking to Re/Code, an Apple spokesperson said they might just pick up where GT left off, obviously with a new partner, if one at all:

Apple put a lot of effort into an ambitious new sapphire manufacturing process with GTAT which is not ready for production. We're going to continue evaluating GTAT's progress on larger sapphire boule development, as well as consider other options for the facility. We remain committed to the city and we're going to work with Mesa and Maricopa County to help the GT Advanced employees who will be impacted by this find new jobs

So there you have it — Sapphire may not be dead after all. Apple made significant investments in Sapphire, so we'd think they'd like to keep their hopes alive. It will also be interesting to see if Apple simply purchases the Sapphire equipment GTAT is selling off to repay the loan, then bring in another partner to operate the facility.

Source: Re/Code