Forbes: Why did Apple abandon GT Advanced?

Introduction: Forbes magazine published an article titled "Shattered Dreams: The Sapphire iPhones That Almost Were Now Seem Certain N Be" today, saying that the reason why Apple gave up its sapphire glass partner GT Advanced Technologies was because of the curved edge of the iPhone 6 screen. The iPhone 6 without sapphire glass is still a hot seller, but GT Advanced Technologies suffered a fatal blow.

The following is a summary of the article:

When GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) and Apple (Apple) signed a $578 million sapphire glass partnership last November, the industry wasn’t quite sure what the two parties were going to do. But when GTAT announced that sapphire glass revenue would reach $1 billion, people began to realize that it could be used to protect the screen of every iPhone.

However, between February and September this year, GTAT and Apple's initial plan seemed to have gone awry. The new generation iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus did not use GTAT's sapphire glass, and even the Apple Watch did not use it. They were still good friends in November last year, but fell out of favor in October this year. GTAT announced yesterday that it had proactively applied for a replacement protection.

GTAT CEO Tom Gutierrez said in a statement: "Today's bankruptcy protection application does not mean that we will go out of business. On the contrary, this move will allow us to continue to execute our established business plan." But in fact, GTAT's dream has been shattered. Moreover, the dream of making sapphire glass popular in smartphones may also be in vain.

Best laid plans

It's clear that Apple had a different plan, and it relied on GTAT to achieve it. Apple has used the same strategy before and achieved remarkable results: using new technologies to enter the market early and gain an advantage. For example, the iPod has the smallest hard drive and the iPhone has the best touch screen. With Apple's investment, GTAT was able to build the world's largest sapphire glass factory. Eric Virey, senior analyst at French research firm Yole Développement, said: "There is only one reason to set up this factory, and it is undoubtedly for the iPhone."

Matt Margolis, a financial analyst at PTT Research, a research firm, holds the same view. Margolis said: "Even if Apple Watch sales can reach 30 million units, that is less than a quarter of GTAT's annual output. GTAT's final production capacity can meet the needs of more than 100 million iPhones, but in the end not a single iPhone is used."

Since Apple has remained silent on this, the best explanation is that the GTAT factory did not meet expectations. The first possibility is that GTAT did not deliver the specified amount of sapphire glass on schedule. Therefore, only a portion of the iPhones can use sapphire glass. Secondly, the slightly curved screen edge design means that the thin sapphire glass layer needs to be designed in the same way, which is a challenge. Both Wery and Magris believe that the second possibility is the reason why Apple gave up GTAT.

Never thought of using sapphire?

It is undeniable that sapphire glass has its own shortcomings. For example, it is expensive, has high production process requirements, and is heavy. Although it is scratch-resistant, it is fragile and is likely to break after some kind of impact. This makes it easy for us to draw the conclusion that Apple never thought of using sapphire glass from the beginning. However, all signs indicate that this is not the case.

First of all, signing a cooperation agreement with GTAT means that GTAT's sapphire glass production capacity has reached a certain level. Weiri estimates that GTAT's sapphire glass production capacity is twice the capacity of the other 100 sapphire glass manufacturers. Magris also predicts that GTAT's sapphire glass production in 2015 can meet the demand for at least 100 million iPhones and 30 million to 50 million Apple Watches.

Second, if Corning, the maker of Gorilla Glass, had publicly criticized the use of sapphire to protect mobile phone screens, and hadn’t realized that Apple was going to join the sapphire camp, why should it have worried?

In addition, Kyocera has launched a low-cost smartphone using sapphire glass this year. The technology media Engadget once tried to destroy its screen but failed. Kyocera has proved that sapphire glass is the best material to protect the mobile phone screen.

The future belongs to flexible screens

In the past, Apple has always refused to use OLED technology, one of the reasons being the so-called color reproduction problem, and the second reason being the reliance on rival Samsung, but today, Samsung screens are recognized as the best in the world.

But in the next two to three years, the display market will undergo a major change. OLEDs will be able to adapt to various shapes, starting with the Samsung Galaxy Note Edge. Thanks to new technologies from companies such as Kateeva, it will become easier to produce flexible displays. This will have two effects: 1) Displays that can be bent, folded, and expanded will become possible; 2) Nearly indestructible screens will become a daily necessity.

Therefore, even if Apple launches an iPhone with sapphire glass, its life cycle will not be very long. However, given that Apple will not easily adopt the latest technology (unless the production capacity reaches tens of millions), it can be concluded that the iPhone 7 will not be the first product to use a truly flexible screen.

Although the iPhone 6 did not use sapphire glass, it did not affect the sales of the iPhone 6. In contrast, it was a fatal blow to GTAT.

As a winner of Toutiao's Qingyun Plan and Baijiahao's Bai+ Plan, the 2019 Baidu Digital Author of the Year, the Baijiahao's Most Popular Author in the Technology Field, the 2019 Sogou Technology and Culture Author, and the 2021 Baijiahao Quarterly Influential Creator, he has won many awards, including the 2013 Sohu Best Industry Media Person, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Beijing Third Place, the 2015 Guangmang Experience Award, the 2015 China New Media Entrepreneurship Competition Finals Third Place, and the 2018 Baidu Dynamic Annual Powerful Celebrity.