Report: Apple Reaches Deal With Troubled Sapphire Maker

Apple appears to be wrapping up its troubled relationship with sapphire producer GT Advanced Technologies.

As The Wall Street Journal reports, Cupertino and GT have reached an agreement whereby GT will keep about 600 sapphire-making furnaces and auction off whatever it can't remove from an Arizona plant Apple plans to turn into a data center. Anything that doesn't sell will be chucked by Apple, which will also forgive GT a $439 million loan, the Journal says.

This comes after an October arrangement that was supposed to see GT use the proceeds from an auction to repay its debt to Apple. But it hasn't had much luck selling about 2,000 furnaces, leading to this week's revised deal, the Journal says. A final auction is scheduled for Nov. 23.

At one time, GT had the potential to become a major player in the sapphire market. In 2013, Apple announced a plan to open a facility in Mesa, Arizona that would run in partnership with GT. At the time, Apple offered to give GT $578 million in working capital that would be paid back starting in 2015.

As one of the hardest materials in the world, sapphire is practically shatterproof, making it a desirable component for smartphones with fragile displays. It's expensive, though, so few gadget makers have used it for large components like displays. But when Apple announced the GT investment, industry watchers assumed that meant Cupertino's next iPhone would sport a sapphire display. When the iPhone 6 arrived without one, though, it spelled doom for GT, which soon filed for bankruptcy.

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It's unclear exactly why Apple opted not to go with sapphire; the Journal says both sides blame each other.