Boston, MA 10/08/2014 (wallstreetpr) – According to a report by Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities, GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT)‘s recent bankruptcy issue does not look like it will affect the upcoming Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) iWatch. However, use of sapphire displays in iPhones in the future can be under problem if things don’t improve soon.
Insights of the matter:
Recently, GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT) got attention of many due to wrong reasons i.e. filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. It does not seem a big deal, but it will surely affect the future of coordination between Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and GTAT for sapphire displays. AAPL has released its statement on this issue, according to which, bankruptcy has nothing to do with the launch of Apple Watch. The only concern here is the distribution of sapphire in iPhones and Apple Watch, but there are enough distributors around who can easily fulfill this demand of AAPL. Recently there was a survey conducted, which revealed that other than GTAT, few other distributors can also fulfill the demand of Apple Watch sapphire ingot supply. Couple of names that came out as a result of this survey is Harbin Aurora Optoelectronics (CN) and Hansol.
Ming-Chi Kuo thinks that advanced sapphire furnace sapphire ingot is not the only choice that AAPL has, but surely it’s the most preferred choice it has. The main reason behind its preference is nothing but a second to none drop-test performance of GTAT’s sapphire. Current indications of AAPL suggest that it wants to use sapphire in future as well, but the bankruptcy case is likely to put negative effect on the production of sapphire. It may surely be a loss for GT Advanced Technologies Inc (NASDAQ:GTAT), but will not create any opportunity for other sapphire suppliers, as they fail to meet the high drop-test standards that Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) prefers. Sapphire couldn’t be used in iPhone6 due to obvious reasons, but chances are there that it will be used in Apple Watch.
