GT Advanced May Soon Be Clear Of That $50 Million Apple Penalty

Last week, it was discovered that Apple held a $50 million knife to the throat of their supply partners regarding leaked info. Should a partner be found guilty of leaking info, or allowing info to leak about current or future Apple products, they were subject to that penalty. In the bankruptcy filing of GT Advanced, Apple's now former Sapphire glass partner, some things have to be discussed to satisfy the court, but might violate that penalty clause with Apple. GT Advanced now says they're working with Apple to figure out what can and can't be said in the proceedings.

In a hearing today, GT Advanced lawyer Luc Despins said he was confident an agreement would be reached soon, and that their bankruptcy filing could go on without a hitch. That might sound pretty ho-hum, but it could give us more insight into what happened with GT.

It may also give us better insight on how Apple manages to control a fairly secure supply chain that churns out a lot of great products en masse.

So far, court papers dealing with the cause of the bankruptcy have been filed in secrecy to satisfy that $50 million fine looming over an Apple partner. GT Advanced, in filing for bankruptcy, does so under the auspices of that penalty agreement. The more they say publicly, even in court papers, the larger the risk of fine.

We know that GT filed for bankruptcy, and did so noisily, but we don't really know why they went down so suddenly and violently. Being able to say more might shed light on that.

Source: Reuters