Und wer liefert die Maschinen zur Verarbeitung von Sapphire :-)
(BN) Apple Opening Arizona Plant With 2,000 Workers to Make Part
s (1)
+-------------------------------------------------
Apple Opening Arizona Plant With 2,000 Workers to Make Parts (1)
2013-11-05 07:29:45.979 GMT
(Adds Apple share price in seventh paragraph.)
By Adam Satariano
Nov. 5 (Bloomberg) -- Apple Inc. said it"s opening a new
plant in Mesa, Arizona, that will create 2,000 jobs to make
components for its products, part of a push by the world"s most
valuable company to boost manufacturing in the U.S.
Apple struck a deal to pay $578 million to GT Advanced
Technologies Inc. to supply equipment for the facility, GT
Advanced said in a statement yesterday. The machines make
materials out of sapphire, which is increasingly used in
smartphones to cover camera lenses and home buttons.
After years of outsourcing much of its manufacturing to
Asian suppliers such as Foxconn Technology Group and facing
criticism from labor groups and politicians for the practice,
Apple Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook has made adding jobs in
the U.S. a priority. The Cupertino, California-based company
will next month release a new Mac Pro that is being assembled in
the U.S.
"We are proud to expand our domestic manufacturing
initiative with a new facility in Arizona, creating more than
2,000 jobs in engineering, manufacturing and construction,"
said Kristin Huguet, a spokeswoman for Apple. "This new plant
will make components for Apple products and it will run on 100
percent renewable energy from day one."
Apple didn"t specify what products will be made at the
plant. Taiwan-based Foxconn is the world"s largest contract
manufacturer of electronics.
Multiyear Agreement
GT Advanced, based in Merrimack, New Hampshire, said it has
entered into a multiyear agreement with Apple to provide
furnaces used to make sapphire material. Apple is prepaying the
company $578 million, which GT Advanced said it will reimburse
over five years starting in 2015. Under terms of the deal, Apple
will receive some exclusivity rights from GT Advanced.
GT Advanced"s shares rose as much as 22 percent to $10.24
in extended trading following the announcement yesterday, after
closing at $8.38 in New York. Apple rose 1.3 percent to $526.75,
paring this year"s decline to 1 percent.
"We are very excited about this agreement with Apple as it
represents a significant milestone in GT"s long term
diversification strategy," Tom Gutierrez, GT Advanced"s
president and CEO, said in a statement issued with the company"s
third-quarter financial results.
Demand for sapphire materials has surged since Apple
started using it as a camera-lens cover in 2012, according to a
report last month from market research firm IHS. The material
also is used for the home button of the iPhone 5s that has new
fingerprint-reading technology, according to IHS.
Sapphire Usage
Earlier this year, Apple applied for a patent for using
sapphire to create sturdier displays.
"Sapphire substrates are suitable for covering lenses,
buttons and displays because they are transparent, yet more
scratch-resistant than glass," IHS said. "Glass can become
scratched from contact with hard objects, which can degrade the
performance of a camera lens or a fingerprint recognition
window."
Apple has a history of spending heavily to buy up supplies
of critical components. In 2005, it paid $1.25 billion for flash
memory for iPod music players.
Arizona Governor Jan Brewer said the Apple facility would
create at least 700 jobs, as well as 1,300 construction and
associated positions in the state.
"Apple is indisputably one of the world"s most innovative
companies and I"m thrilled to welcome them to Arizona," Brewer
said in a statement.
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Top Stories: TOP
--Editors: Pui-Wing Tam, Ari Levy
To contact the reporter on this story:
Adam Satariano in San Francisco at +1-415-617-7204 or
asatariano1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story:
Pui-Wing Tam at +1-415-617-7327 or
ptam13@bloomberg.net
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