Apple is investing $2 billion to convert failed sapphire plant into global command center

[Shawn Knight]

Apple is planning to spend $2 billion to convert the factory that GT Advanced Technologies once used to produce sapphire into a massive data center. The investment will create upwards of 500 construction jobs and once complete, the 1.3 million-square-foot facility will be powered entirely by renewable energy.

The Cupertino-based company is trying to make the best out of a bad situation. The facility, a former solar-panel factory, was originally purchased by Apple in 2013 and outfitted with equipment that GT Advanced Technologies was to use to produce large quantities of sapphire.

The sapphire was going to be used for the screens on the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus but that plan was scrapped when it became clear that GT Advanced couldn’t produce the quality of sapphire they had agreed upon.

All said and done, Apple only received 10 percent of the sapphire it was supposed to. GT Advanced, meanwhile, filed for bankruptcy last October.

Construction is slated to begin in 2016 which will give GT Advanced plenty of time to remove its equipment from the site. The facility will employ 150 full-time Apple staff and will serve as a command center for the company’s global network of data centers.

At $2 billion, it’s one of the largest investments Apple has ever made (not counting the $1 billion that Apple has already invested in the site for GT Advanced).

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https://www.techspot.com/news/59613-apple-2-billion-convert-failed-sapphire-plant.html

 

[MilwaukeeMike]

And yet GT Advanced (GTAT) is only trading at .44 a share. That's up $.02 today. Not really what you'd expect when a headline says Apple is giving you $2bln.

 

[Hammayon]

They make something like 80 billion dollars a year in profit. That's profit! Revenue is obviously much much higher. With 80 billion, 2 billion is pocket change.

And it's the biggest investment?

Wow, apple can do so much more.

C'mon Apple, do something to end war. Focus on renewable energy somehow so US doesn't have to invade oil-rich countries.

 

[cliffordcooley]

so US doesn't have to invade oil-rich countries.

For the record, we have our own oil reserves. But some greedy bastards would rather deplete everyone else first.

 

[EhsanW]

so US doesn't have to invade oil-rich countries.

For the record, we have our own oil reserves. But some greedy bastards would rather deplete everyone else first.

Still doesn't make him wrong though.
I wish they would jump on the VR/AR bandwagon.
Maybe work towards lenses instead of huge glasses.
Or at least AI...Towards automation. There's really no need for so much manual labor in this day and age...

 

[captaincranky]

....[ ]....C'mon Apple, do something to end war. Focus on renewable energy somehow so US doesn't have to invade oil-rich countries.

Didn't you read the article? Apple is going to do something about THEIR energy bills. F*** the rest of us.(n)

 

[p3ngwin]

They make something like 80 billion dollars a year in profit. That's profit! Revenue is obviously much much higher. With 80 billion, 2 billion is pocket change.

errr, no, you're making crap up.

Apple make nowhere near that much, not even 1/3 of "80 Billion profit".

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2014/10/20Apple-Reports-Fourth-Quarter-Results.html

 

[Hammayon]

Didn't you read the article? Apple is going to do something about THEIR energy bills. F*** the rest of us.(n)

Running off renewable energy for themselves yes. I"m talking about entire countries. I'm talking about advancing renewable technologies or making existing technologies more efficient. Contributing money and research to the energy industry.

$80 billion profit per year (approximately) is insane.

Obviously you didn't understand my comment.

 

[Hammayon]

Still doesn't make him wrong though.
I wish they would jump on the VR/AR bandwagon.
Maybe work towards lenses instead of huge glasses.
Or at least AI...Towards automation. There's really no need for so much manual labor in this day and age...

For the record, we have our own oil reserves. But some greedy bastards would rather deplete everyone else first.

http://www.opec.org/opec_web/en/data_graphs/330.htm

Look at Saudi Arabia. Then it's IRAQ and IRAN.

OPEC countries make up 80% or so of the world supply. That means US is in the 19%.

Even though the population of the US is tiny in the world, they consume INSANE amounts of oil, which is why they import, need to invade countries to get oil. IE. Iraq which is 3rd in this but I feel should be 2nd as Venezuala as nonprofitable tar sands bitumen which is expensive to extract and convert into oil. I know I"m a chemical engineer.

Now let's look at your comment. Yes America has it's own, but look how little it has.
Besides, it's not just about oil. The entire country is actually a war machine. The richest corporations are the military. They spend like 600 billion dollars a year .

They need to invade countries to keep the war machine running and line the pockets of the military.

Obviously you know this because you don't listen to the lies in the bullshit news which is owned by the military I.e. propaganda and you read books and watch movies like The Corporations, Farenheit 911, Truth and lies of 911, and countless others.

So is the military the biggest corporation?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=US+m...al-military-spending-summed-one-chart;599;542

 

[captaincranky]

Running off renewable energy for themselves yes. I"m talking about entire countries. I'm talking about advancing renewable technologies or making existing technologies more efficient. Contributing money and research to the energy industry.

$80 billion profit per year (approximately) is insane.

Obviously you didn't understand my comment.

What exactly do think about you comment is so deep, insightful, or progressive, that I haven't been able to process it?

I've heard nonsense like yours pretty much all my life. You want to, "fight world hunger, promote world peace, and uphold the ideals of the Miss America Pageant". Or rather, you think Apple should do that for you.

Apple works for themselves, and they don't care what Anybody thinks about them. Nobody I've run into has had the iron, or the common sense, to vote against them with their wallet. So, everything they save on their own energy needs, will go straight into that same profit column.

Maybe the next invocation of the iPhone will have longer battery life. Then, they'll that tout that as "green", and people will buy a billion of them, in the name of "saving the planet". The more you spend, the more Apple saves.,