GT Advanced Announces It's 'Commencing the Transition to Volume Production' of Sapphire for Apple

GT Advanced announced that it's 'commencing the transition to volume production' of sapphire for Apple, in the company's results for Second Quarter Fiscal Year 2014.

Last quarter the company said that the arrangement to provide Apple with sapphire was progressing well and the facility was being built out.

"Our arrangement to supply sapphire materials to Apple is progressing well and we started to build out the facility in Arizona and staff the operation during the quarter," said CEO Tom Gutierrez. "We are pleased to have Apple as a sapphire customer and to be in a position to leverage our proprietary know-how to enable the supply of this versatile material."


This quarter's statement indicates that the build out is almost done and volume production may have already begun.

"Results during the second quarter were in line with our guidance," said Tom Gutierrez, president and chief executive officer. "We have continued to see strong interest in our suite of sapphire production tools, including our ASF equipment. In fact, the sapphire segment of our business accounted for over 75% of the revenue in the quarter, with the majority of it related to the sale of sapphire production equipment.

"The build-out of our Arizona facility, which has involved taking a 1.4 million square foot facility from a shell to a functional structure as well as the installation of sapphire growth and fabrication equipment, is nearly complete and we are commencing the transition to volume production," Gutierrez continued. "We remain confident about the long-term potential of the sapphire materials business for GT."

Past reports have suggested that GT Advanced has already begun shipping sapphire to Apple partners in China.


It's rumored that the both iPhone 6 and the iWatch may feature sapphire glass front covers. A recently leaked front cover, allegedly for the iPhone 6, did show significant strength improvements.

Apple is expected to unveil the iPhone 6 in mid-September. Please follow iClarified on Twitter, Facebook, or RSS for updates.