GT Advanced Technologies, the company contracted to provide Apple with the sapphire display for the upcoming Apple Watch, has announced it will be cutting 890 job positions.
GT said that it has no plans to pursue these claims immediately. Instead it will rely on its legal right to terminate several agreements it’s made with Apple that have been placing an undue burden on the sapphire production company.
GT Advanced Technology
The beleaguered sapphire display manufacturer has already landed itself in hot water after announcing earlier this week that it was pursuing bankruptcy protection. GT says it could end up embroiled in legal battles with Apple as well.
The company remarked that it needs to wind down operations desperately, as it’s going through $1 million every day at the moment. Filing for bankruptcy is crucial in GT’s ability to halt these losses in order to re-focus its ability to return to its core business operations of selling products such as sapphire furnaces, and that there are many ways it could make legal claims against the iOS device manufacturer based on the business relationship it has with the Cupertino, California company, GT added.
GT said that it has no plans to pursue these claims immediately. Instead it will rely on its legal right to terminate several agreements it’s made with Apple that have been placing an undue burden on the sapphire production company. Meanwhile, Apple shot back by claiming it has a commitment to holding GT to its agreements and that to do otherwise was to jeopardize Arizona jobs; Apple partnered with GT to expand its operations in the state in order to meet capacity demands in producing smart watch displays.
The sapphire industry responded to the news positively, with shares of rival producer Rubicon Technology rising by close to 23 percent on the Nasdaq index. Rubicon stock is currently trading at $4.93 a share. However, industry analysts say that the stock rally is simply market overreaction to the news of GT Advanced entering into bankruptcy.
In addition to the operational wind down in Arizona, GT said it will also need to wrap up business centered in Salem, Massachusetts in order to quell the unending flow of cash. The company is keen to expedite the process, estimating that it could take until the end of 2014 to accomplish this goal.
This archive content was originally published October 12, 2014 (www.betawired.com)