“GT Advanced Technologies Inc., which is trying to emerge from bankruptcy after losing its deal to supply scratch-resistant smartphone screens to Apple Inc., said Monday it was reducing its workforce by 40% in a bid to cut costs,” Patrick Fitzgerald reports for The Wall Street Journal.
“The company, which had already laid off some 700 workers at a former Arizona sapphire-manufacturing facility, said the further cuts will save it $20 million a year and help it ‘right size’ its costs after exiting chapter 11, according to papers filed in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manchester, N.H,” Fitzgerald reports. “The number of workers getting pink slips is unclear. A company spokesman couldn’t be reached for comment. GT Advanced had about 1,000 employees when it filed for bankruptcy in October.”
“A downsized GT Advanced still hopes to exit chapter 11 early next year. The New Hampshire-based company spent heavily to transform itself from a manufacturer of industrial equipment to a maker of sapphire screen material for Apple,” Fitzgerald reports. “However, the project struggled to produce a consistent level of sapphire at the quality demanded by Apple.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Sheesh, what a mess! Hopefully, they can emerge from bankruptcy a much stronger, much more focused company and can begin hiring and rehiring employees ASAP.
SEE ALSO:
GT Advanced to pursue $95 million bankruptcy loan – March 18, 2015
GT Advanced wants bankruptcy judge to approve millions in executive bonuses – December 31, 2014
Apple, GT Advanced and the ‘boule graveyard’ – November 20, 2014
Lack of experience, mismanagement doomed GT Advanced’s sapphire adventure – November 19, 2014
Court unseals GT Advanced documents: Apple says it ‘bent over backwards’ to help sapphire supplier – November 7, 2014
GT Advanced COO sold $2 million in stock after sapphire deal with Apple began to sour – October 14, 2014
GT Advanced blames ‘oppressive and burdensome’ Apple terms in quest to ax sapphire production – October 10, 2014
GT Advanced CEO sold 9,000 shares the day before Apple’s iPhone 6/Plus event – October 7, 2014
I sympathize with the employee’s who have lost their jobs and those who quit or are about to be let go but, ever stinking one of their upper management should be in jail for fraud.
I really doubt they have more than just a few people left on payroll. They all knew the writing on the wall that Monday when they came back to work and got blind-sided by the fact their CEO and their attorney’s filed for bankruptcy over the weekend.
So, Mesa, AZ, how are all those multimillion dollar tax breaks and grants you gave First Solar and the GT Advanced working out for ya? Really repaid your taxpayers for your largesse with all those new jobs, right?
Governments should not be in the business of picking and choosing winners. Invariably they will get it wrong. The best they can hope to do is provide overall industry incentives to locate in their territory. But to give specific companies tax breaks or outright infrastructure gifts is unfair to other businesses and unfair to the taxpayer.
“Governments should not be in the business of picking and choosing winners”
True, but as long as they are allowed to compete with each other (or business are allowed to play one state against another) they will continue to to be in just that business.
Monokristall plant (in Russia) feels itself well. They provide five million thin sapphire crystals to Apple this year (to be cut in China into needed size for Apple Watch or maybe even premium iPhone, it it will be an option).
They also announced that they can grow 360 kg sapphire bulbs now. Though considering that many tried, and no one succeeded (including GTA), I am sceptical until Monokristall will actually start making such bulbs in truly mass scale.
If they will succeed, then sapphire might replace glass in iPhones altogether — but not this year. (Only a premium version of iPhone can sapphire this year, if Apple will decide it want such option for its customers.)