Apple is objecting to GT Advanced Technologies' financing plan over concerns that it would undermine its existing settlement reached with the bankrupt sapphire crystal supplier last year, reports Re/code. GT Advanced reached a settlement with Apple in October 2014 after failing to produce sapphire crystal of the quality desired by the Cupertino-based company for potential use in future products.
GT Advanced is attempting to restructure by raising $95 million through a loan agreement under the supervision of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for New Hampshire, but the financing plan is contingent upon the company receiving enough insurance money to repair any damage to sapphire furnaces following a fire at its former Mesa, Arizona facility a few months ago.
GT Advanced's inspection equipment damaged in Mesa facility fire last May
Apple argues that GT Advanced already determined damage at the facility to be minimal, adding that the terms of the loan agreement give lenders too much leverage to foreclose on the sapphire furnaces that GT Advanced is supposed to sell in order to repay Apple. A group of GT Advanced shareholders have also reportedly questioned why the company needs to raise money nine months into bankruptcy.
GT Advanced filed for bankruptcy last October after it became clear the company was spending over one million dollars per day to run its operations, despite being unable to produce sapphire acceptably by Apple's standards. The company began winding down its sapphire production and decommissioning the furnaces to prepare them for storage and resale through the end of last year.
This is such an interesting story. I really wish someone would do an in depth investigative report on it. For a could years there were so many rumor/news stories about how sapphire was going to be the best thing since sliced bread. When Apple contracted with this company the stories talked about how this was such a game change and that Samsung and other phone makers were going to be years behind the curve on sapphire.
Then seemingly over night Apple pulls its contract and GT declares bankrucy. Then stories come out about how the executives of GT dumped their stocks only weeks earlier. Then, after seemingly after all is lost, Apple announces they're going to repurpose the facilities. Now this fire.
I'm not arguing a conspiracy theory, but I feel like there have been so many interesting twists in the story that it really deserves an in depth look at what really happened here.
Apple's contract to buy GT's equipment and facilities might be null and void because of the bankruptcy filing.
Say, I have $1,000,000 in debt and I sell my 3 yachts to someone for $500,000. Then I declare bankruptcy. According to the law in the United States, I can't give up my property and then declare bankruptcy - this is fraud. The other debtors want their share of the bankruptcy estate (which the yachts were part of. Any transactions in the prior 2 years are looked into and can all be taken back.
Apples contract to buy GT's equipment is *part* of the bankruptcy. It is how Apple is going to be able to recover their investment. Trying to get a loan which uses that same equipment as collateral *after* agreeing to sell them to Apple during the bankruptcy proceedings is more than a little shady.
GT can't be trusted ... they have proven that - they are for the quick money with fishy methods, they have no respect for contracts they sign or anything they promise and blame everyone else for their own failure.
Apple's contract to buy GT's equipment and facilities might be null and void because of the bankruptcy filing.
Say, I have $1,000,000 in debt and I sell my 3 yachts to someone for $500,000. Then I declare bankruptcy. According to the law in the United States, I can't give up my property and then declare bankruptcy - this is fraud. The other debtors want their share of the bankruptcy estate (which the yachts were part of. Any transactions in the prior 2 years are looked into and can all be taken back.
Wednesday April 17, 2024 9:58 am PDT by Juli Clover
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iOS 18 is expected to be the "biggest" update in the iPhone's history. Below, we recap rumored features and changes for the iPhone. iOS 18 is rumored to include new generative AI features for Siri and many apps, and Apple plans to add RCS support to the Messages app for an improved texting experience between iPhones and Android devices. The update is also expected to introduce a more...
Tuesday April 16, 2024 11:33 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
The first approved Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) emulator for the iPhone and iPad was made available on the App Store today following Apple's rule change. The emulator is called Bimmy, and it was developed by Tom Salvo. On the App Store, Bimmy is described as a tool for testing and playing public domain/"homebrew" games created for the NES, but the app allows you to load ROMs for any...
Apple today said it removed Game Boy emulator iGBA from the App Store for violating the company's App Review Guidelines related to spam (section 4.3) and copyright (section 5.2), but it did not provide any specific details. iGBA was a copycat version of developer Riley Testut's open-source GBA4iOS app. The emulator rose to the top of the App Store charts following its release this weekend,...
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Last September, Apple's iPhone 15 Pro models debuted with a new customizable Action button, offering faster access to a handful of functions, as well as the ability to assign Shortcuts. Apple is poised to include the feature on all upcoming iPhone 16 models, so we asked iPhone 15 Pro users what their experience has been with the additional button so far. The Action button replaces the switch ...
A week after Apple updated its App Review Guidelines to permit retro game console emulators, a Game Boy emulator for the iPhone called iGBA has appeared in the App Store worldwide. The emulator is already one of the top free apps on the App Store charts. It was not entirely clear if Apple would allow emulators to work with all and any games, but iGBA is able to load any Game Boy ROMs that...
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Then seemingly over night Apple pulls its contract and GT declares bankrucy. Then stories come out about how the executives of GT dumped their stocks only weeks earlier. Then, after seemingly after all is lost, Apple announces they're going to repurpose the facilities. Now this fire.
I'm not arguing a conspiracy theory, but I feel like there have been so many interesting twists in the story that it really deserves an in depth look at what really happened here.
Say, I have $1,000,000 in debt and I sell my 3 yachts to someone for $500,000. Then I declare bankruptcy. According to the law in the United States, I can't give up my property and then declare bankruptcy - this is fraud. The other debtors want their share of the bankruptcy estate (which the yachts were part of. Any transactions in the prior 2 years are looked into and can all be taken back.