Apple’s sapphire supplier wants to keep bankruptcy details under wraps

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This year will be the iPhone's biggest camera upgrade ever.
Sapphire is used to protect the iPhone's rear-facing iSight camera. Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac
Photo: Jim Merithew/Cult of Mac

How GT Advanced Technologies could have filed for bankruptcy, despite Apple’s best efforts to prop it up, is still something of a mystery — and it’ll stay like that if the company gets its way.

According to a Reuters report, GT Advanced has requested that the New Hampshire bankruptcy court currently overseeing its case put the kibosh on releasing key documents related to a “third party,” claiming that this would allow it avoid paying damages thanks to confidentiality agreements.

No word was given about the identity of this third party, or the possible contract violations being discussed, although Apple would make sense as the former, seeing as it invested a massive $578 million in GT Advanced.

Taking a page out of Apple’s secrecy playbook, GT is also asking that today’s bankruptcy hearing is not open to the public. As of yet, little to no explanation has been given for Monday’s bankruptcy announcement.

Apple claims to have been “surprised” by the news, although it’s not yet given up on the Mesa, Arizona plant which opened earlier this year.

GT Advanced’s stock fell off a cliff once it was revealed that the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus sported Gorilla Glass instead of sapphire displays. The company’s CEO offloaded his shares prior to the fateful iPhone 6 event.

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