- An Apple spokeswoman: "Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) 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."
- GT Advanced (OTCPK:GTATQ +49.7%) confirmed this morning it has reached a settlement with Apple (previous) that will result in its Mesa, AZ and Salem, MA sapphire production ops being wound down, and that a portion of its sapphire furnace sales will be used to pay down the company's debt to Apple. 650 Mesa employees have been laid off.
- GT "retains control of its intellectual property and will be able to sell its sapphire growth and fabrication technology, including ASF and Hyperion, without restrictions."