“Rumors have suggested that Apple is using the sapphire garnered from its partnership with GT Advanced to produce sapphire crystal displays for the iPhone 6, and if true, such a move would normally inspire competitors to produce their own devices with sapphire displays,” Juli Clover reports for MacRumors. “It does not appear, however, that other major smartphone manufacturers are ready to adopt sapphire as a display solution, due to the expense of the material and its quality compared to the more popular Gorilla Glass.”
“Engadget, in an in-depth piece on sapphire displays, contacted multiple representatives from major smartphone companies, who had researched sapphire as a possible material and largely decided against it. LG, for example, said the material was too expensive,” Clover reports. “‘The cost and supply aren’t where we’d like them to be for sapphire to be practical just yet,’ said Ken Hong, Global Communications Director for LG. ‘Sapphire’s durability and scratch-resistance are certainly attractive, but Gorilla Glass isn’t going to be displaced anytime soon.'”
Clover reports, “Sapphire is astronomically expensive compared to alternatives like Gorilla Glass, with a pane costing $30 compared to $3. Apple’s partnership with GT Advanced has allowed Apple to help fund advanced sapphire production methods that significantly lower manufacturing costs, however, a feat that most manufacturers will be unable to match.”
Much more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: As we wrote back in April:
Exotic materials, esoteric manufacturing processes, unparalleled build quality, and seamless access to unequaled ecosystems that patent-infringing imitators simply cannot match…
Related articles:
Large iPhone 6 screen looks like sapphire, says expert who spoke to Apple – July 11, 2014
In new video, purported ‘iPhone 6′ sapphire display undergoes extreme torture test – July 8, 2014
Yeah right. Samsung will have a sapphire display smartphone by next year at the latest.
Maybe a “saffire” display.
With their 64-bit SoC too, I’m sure.
To run their 32-bit (P)OS.
Samsung will have something called a Safire display hoping their customers don’t know the difference.
The Safire Display. Now there’s an idea! The late William Safire, noted for his libertarian brand of conservatism and a speechwriter for Nixon and Agnew, was also well-known for his love of language and wrote a jewel of a column about it in The New York Times Magazine.
–>The next Samsung phone with The Safire Display will auto-correct your language usage (not just spelling), and also auto-persuade you to reconsider your puerile political beliefs. I doubt Apple would have an answer for that!
Sapphire chemical structure is Al2O3 (2 aluminum atoms bonded to 3 Oxygen atoms). Why not call it Transparent Aluminum and cause a worldwide geekgasm?
I’m sture Paramount has that name tightly copyrighted.
Transparium!
Rivals cannot match Apple the way it is.
Well, now Samsung really torqued. They have to move to a true metal frame, indestructible sapphire, quality build, 20nm process, 64 bit processor, 64 bit software, and a glowing Samsung icon – I see their copier is out of toner! Ouch…
Don’t forget Swift.
Clearly the patent system is not sufficient to protect Apple’s R&D investment so using advance technology and partnering with suppliers such as GT in this case to simply corner the market is the only way to go.
Apple clearly understands the issue better than anyone else. They are taking the same approach with OS and CPU (of course), development language, Memory (israeli Company Apple purchased a year or two ago), Cover glass now, liquid metal (work in progress).
This leaves battery and wireless connectivity (LTE, Bluetooth, Wifi, NFC) as 2 major areas where Apple’s size allows them to create their own unique solution in a manner others will find it difficult or too expensive to copy when they are giving away their cheap plastic wannabe iPhones crap. Here hoping Apple will tackle these areas very soon.
This is why people need to lay off of Tim Cook. He recognizes that patents and the legal system simply move far too slowly or are ineffective at preventing copying.
So his strategy is to create products, services and an ecosystem that the copiers simply cannot copy. The PR Apple will get (free marketing) will destroy the competition. And there’s no way they can match features, both from a technical standpoint and the economics of remaining competitive.
Great post. This is where mobile devices really differentiates from the PC market. Apple’s use of advanced materials and their massive purchasing power will raise the BOM for competing OEMs such that it would wipe out any remaining profit, if any. Because of their margins and cost savings from securing mass quantities up front, Apple can absorb the ~$30 cost of a sapphire glass panel, while the ~$27 cost difference versus Gorilla Glass might be greater than the total gross margin for a competing Android model.
I definitely see Apple moving in a direction that makes it far more difficult for competitors to copy their products, by relying more on customized components, supply chain scale, and working with advanced materials on a scale that nobody else can match.
This is real innovation like the 64bit processors and touch sensors that actually work but I suspect few will give them the credit.
Juli, you can do better than this. This story is pretty obvious and is old news.
Maybe she should have written an article about wow the competition is going to compete by shady advertising and market share numbers.
‘Yet another representative suggested that sapphire simply doesn’t make sense except from a marketing standpoint, which would certainly work for Apple as a way to distinguish itself as a more luxury smartphone option.’
The competitor uses the words marketing and Apple in the same sentence so the reader is reminded that Apple only represents hot air. The detractors have been driving this same negative “marketing” talking point for years.
For example, during the fall of 2013 the competition had a similar strategy when trying to poo-poo the 64-bit chip. This tactic was very effective and convinced many that Apple was full of sh*t. In the early part of 2014 a Sprint rep told me the A7 was slow and the 64-bit was a marketing gimmic. I’m sure these same people will continue to say similar false or negative statements regarding sapphire or any other Apple related innovations.
Dead on point!
The whole ‘Apple s all marketing’ thing is because these competitors all think small. They look at something like sapphire glass as static — what does it cost on the sheet from the supplier?, rather than ‘how can we change the game for the supplier and us?’
Apple solves problems for their suppliers. That’s a key differentiator. They build capacity, they invent new manufacturing machines for them, they do whatever it takes until they create the circumstances they need.
Engadget just sent out an email stating Sapphire wasn’t all that great. Suggesting it wasn’t all that it’s cracked up to be. So I think they are already trying to poo poo on another Apple innovation. Or so we expect, because this is all just rumors.
I have said before and will continue to expound! Engineers, not lawyers is Apple’s key to success.