Larry Wilson

Correspondent

GT Advanced Technologies is seeking protection from creditors.

The Salem, Mass., company will cut nearly 900 jobs.

GT Advanced Technologies "believe it has many claims against Apple."

It all began with Apple Inc. flirting with the idea of replacing Corning Inc.'s Gorilla Glass as the protective cover for its iPhones.

Now it is ending with a big, embarrassing breakup that will leave Apple's potential partner in bankruptcy — and perhaps out of business altogether.

GT Advanced Technologies, which was poised to make sapphire screens for the new 6th generation iPhones, instead finds itself in bankruptcy court in Springfield, Mass.

There, it is arguing that it needs protection from creditors because it is losing $1 million a day. The losses stem from Apple's decision not to replace Gorilla Glass in the new iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus.

Apple gave GT Advanced $578 million to build a factory in Arizona to make the screen cover. The facility never got up to speed and probably was not going to until some time next year. GT says it will close the plant, cut nearly 900 jobs there and in Salem, Mass., and go back to its original business of making sapphire furnaces.

All this is good news for Corning Inc., the Twin Tiers' largest employer. The Fortune 500 company has been making protective covers for the iPhone since the device was launched in 2007.

Sapphire had been hyped as an improved material for the phone covers, but when push came to shove last month Apple jilted GT Advanced and ran back into Corning's arms.

There are, of course, other makers of industrial sapphire to whom Apple could turn. One of those is Rubicon Technology Inc., which got a bump in its stock price when GT Advanced filed for bankruptcy.

The breakup between Apple and GT Advanced was apparently not an amicable one. The sapphire maker told the bankruptcy court that "GT believes it has many claims against Apple arising out of its business relationship with Apple."

Meanwhile, Gorilla Glass continues to grow its franchise.

The glass, invented for the original iPhone, has now been used by 33 major phone brands in 2.7 billion devices.

Gorilla Glass also picked up a supplier innovation award from BMW for the glass partition it manufactured to reduce engine noise from the carmaker's i8 model. The award was presented Oct. 1 in Amsterdam.

Corning Inc. said Gorilla Glass has the potential to reduce the weight of glass used in vehicles by as much as 50 percent. That would help automakers cut the weight and increase the gas mileage of their products at the same time.

The Corning Watch column offers analysis of news involving Corning Inc. Contact Larry Wilson in care of Star-Gazette, P.O. Box 285, Elmira, NY 14902; or by email at ldwilson2278@gmail.com.