New US Apple factory will make INVINCIBLE sapphire glass for SHINY iThings Apple is planning to open a new factory in Arizona in partnership with mineral crystal firm GT Advanced Technologies, to make sapphire components for its devices. The fruity firm would seem to be trying for some PR benefit as well as some super-tough scratchproof glass to use in gadgets or iWatches of the future. Apple …
"Google may also be looking to buff up its image a bit, since it has spent the year defending itself against similar tax questions to those faced by Apple, as well as trying to settle an antitrust case over search dominance "abuse" in the EU."
Just wondering how opening a factory in Texas helps its image in the EU?
Sapphire is very hard and strong, which is why the best watch glasses are made from it. However, it's crystal structure makes it cleave pretty easily, as anyone (like me) who has worked with it knows. And the probability of tapping it just the right way to cleave goes way up the larger the piece of sapphire is. That's why it works well for small windows like on watches. It would not surprise me if Apple goes to all of this trouble only to find the incidence of iThing (other than watches) displays cracking when dropped stays the same or goes up.
Is it possible to create vitreous aluminium oxide in suitable sizes? That could solve the problem if it's properties are like those of thin films of glass. (0.1mm glass is supposed to be amazingly flexible and very hard to break*. I'm still waiting for helmet visors with 0.1 mm glass glued to the outer surface:(
*New Scientist, nineteen ninety mumble IIRC
(Cover glass)
Yeah, and it works quite well as an indestructible window, but it gives everything everything a purple tinge, depending on entry angle of the light.
Chunks of gorilla glass as small as a lens cover are tough enough for all practical purposes ("the phone was a write off but the lens cover was fine") however a lot of makers seem to insist just using pieces of clear plastic (I'm looking at you Samsung!)
The original movie version of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea had the submarine Seaview being unique because unlike normal submarines, it had big windows thanks to a transparent form of metal, so this is actually an idea in popular science fiction that long predates Star Trek IV as well as Star Wars.
Amidst the normal barrage of anti-Apple publicity I wonder if this is a sign the Apple Inc. is starting to go down the pan. In wanting to please its home market and bringing manufacturing back to the USA will this see a dip in the build quality of Apple products compared to the ones built in the far east? My, admittedly limited, experience of American-made products fills me with dread for future iDevice investments.
Lots of companies are reshoring their manufacturing, not just Apple. There are two reasons for that. Firstly, thanks to fracking, energy prices are now much cheaper in the US than in China, so that makes the USA more competitive for energy intensive processes. Secondly, wage rises in China mean that the difference in salaries between Chinese and American workers isn't as high as it used to be.
...its creating jobs in Arizona instead of California,
700 Jobs is small compared to the size of the company, but hey, its new jobs for Arizona and their economy.
Years ago when Californians wanted to boycott Arizona for passing laws to help enforce US Immigrations laws....and now look at what is going on.
Way to go for GT and Arizona.
I know Apple is mostly doing this so they can stamp "Assembled in USA" or "Designed in USA" on their devices. It's wordplay, but I'm glad Arizona is reaping the rewards for it.
~Best wishes keeping what you earn.
They probably picked Arizona because there are so many immigrants willing to work for minimum wage. And I wonder what other perks the state of Arizona gave Apple?
I suspect the state wont make much tax revenue, and 650 of the 700 employees will be paid at near minimum wage rates with lousy benefits.
They clearly need more robots
FWIW once robot assembly becomes cheap enough there's no need whatsoever to site your manufacturing based on meatsack labour costs.
Foxconn aren't robotising the assembly lines to cut down on workers, they're doing it to prevent being made redundant by cheaper/more accurate manufacturers.
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