Apple has reached a settlement with its sapphire supplier GT Advanced Technologies under which the companies will dissolve the partnership and GT will shut down the production of sapphire materials at its Mesa, Arizona and Salem, Massachusetts facilities.
The company filed for bankruptcy in October because it was unable to produce sapphire in quantity that was required by Apple.
Apple gave $439 million loan to GT over a period of up to four years without interest for the company to run its operations.
As part of the agreement the company will sell 2,000 sapphire installed at the facility and the proceeds will go to Apple.
The dissolving of business will not end the ties between Apple and GT as the two companies will continue the technical exchange, because GT is continuing with its research on producing larger sapphire boules of over 165 kilograms.
GT Advanced Technologies CEO Tom Gutierrez "We are pleased with the settlement that we have negotiated with Apple.
"We realize that our filing for Chapter 11 protection has caused uncertainty and hardship for many of our important stakeholders.
"In addition to continuing to sell our industry leading sapphire equipment, we remain committed to advancing our Merlin™, Hyperion™ and next-generation PV and polysilicon solar solutions."
