“Though bankrupt sapphire maker GT Advanced Technologies has accused Apple of crafting a ‘classic bait-and-switch’ deal, newly unsealed court documents reveal Apple’s side of the story, with the iPhone maker claiming it did everything it could to help the struggling supplier,” Neil Hughes reports for AppleInsider.
“A New Hampshire court on Friday published hundreds of pages of documents from GTAT’s bankruptcy filing, copies of which were obtained by AppleInsider,” Hughes reports. “‘Apple has bent over backwards to work with the Debtors, including making payments to the company notwithstanding the company’s failure to meet performance milestones, in the hope of obtaining usable, economically viable sapphire from the Debtors,’ Apple wrote. ‘Apple continued to fund the Debtors’ operations at the Mesa facility by making payments under the Prepayment Agreement even though the Debtors failed to satisfy the original payment milestones.'”
“Specifically, GTAT was unable to create sapphire at the 262-kilogram boule size that it had originally agreed to produce. And even on that front, Apple says it was willing to negotiate and accept sapphire produced at a smaller size,” Hughes reports. “Right up until GTAT’s surprise bankruptcy filing last month, Apple says it continued to attempt to work with the supplier, offering what it portrayed as ‘significant concessions.'”
Much more in the full article here.
Related articles:
U.S. SEC opens investigation into Apple supplier GT Advanced – November 6, 2014
GT Advanced says Apple settlement will survive unsealing – November 5, 2014
Judge orders GT Advanced bankruptcy papers unsealed – October 30, 2014
Full list of GT Advanced articles here.