Apple’s sapphire supplier GT Advanced’s projected revenues for 2014 hint at iPhone 6 launch in fall

Apple’s new manufacturing partner for sapphire crystal glass, GT Advanced Technologies, announced its Q4 2013 earnings yesterday. In the earnings release, GT Advanced said that it expects this year to be a “transformational” one for the company, thanks to its partnership with Apple.

As a part of the partnership between the two companies, GT Advanced will help Apple set up a sapphire glass production facility in Arizona. There isn’t any timeframe as to when GT will start supplying the sapphire glass to Apple, but the company’s future projections do give a hint:

    [GT Advanced] expects that 2014 will be a transformational year, one in which it builds a sapphire materials business while continuing to invest in the new technologies that will drive its equipment business in 2015 and beyond.

    The company expects that revenue and profitability will be back end loaded, with its sapphire materials business ramping as the year progresses, and with improving financial performance during the second half of 2014.

GT Advanced projects that it will generate a revenue of anywhere between $600 – $800 million this year. Notably, just 15 percent of this revenue is expected to be generated in the first half, with the rest 85 percent coming in the second half as the company’s new Sapphire plant for Apple starts operating at full capacity. The plant will reportedly have enough capacity to produce as much as 200 million 5-inch glass panels.

A report from earlier this year said that Apple wanted the plant to be operational by February, and according to GT Advanced CEO Tom Gutierrez, the plan seems to be on track:

    Our arrangement to supply sapphire materials to Apple is progressing well and we started to build out the facility in Arizona and staff the operation during the quarter. We are pleased to have Apple as a sapphire customer and to be in a position to leverage our proprietary know-how to enable the supply of this versatile material.

There have been some rumors that claim the iPhone 6 will be launched at WWDC rather than September, but GT Advanced’s projections suggest Apple will retain the September timeframe for the iPhone’s launch.

For a demo of sapphire’s strength, check this post which shows how sapphire is better than Gorilla Glass.