While neither Apple nor GT Advanced Technologies have made any official announcement regarding use of sapphire displays in forthcoming Apple products, the growing partnership between the two companies has strongly hinted so. Today however, MacRumors has pointed out that former GT product manager Paul Matthews is claiming on his LinkedIn profile that he played a key role in convincing Apple to use sapphire for mobile displays.
“Worked with GT Advanced Technology to help market and sell the idear [sic] of sapphire as a cover screen for mobile devices to Apple. […]
After marketing and selling the ASF [advanced sapphire furnace] into the LED market targeted mobile screen covers as a market for growth, conducted a focused marketing campaign and developed a cost model across the supply chain that has brought sapphire to Apple’s mobile display.”
Matthews is currently working at Applied Materials which he joined in January this year after quitting his job at GT which lasted almost 3 years. Even though he claims to have suggested sapphire use for mobile displays in general, he does not mention any specific device like the iPhone or ‘iWatch’ that may sport such a display cover.
Recent reports have suggested that Apple is indeed targeting the ‘iPhone 6’ for the launch of sapphire display covers.
