It was confirmed today that Apple is planning on opening a brand new plant located in Mesa, Arizona. This won’t be a plant for manufacturing devices, however. This plant will be specifically for building components for its products, and will apparently be the plant that will be responsible for a next generation sapphire lens.
The new plant was announced by Arizona’s governor, Janice K. Brewer. The plant will reportedly add about 2,000 US jobs, and is expected to be helpful in the state’s economy. Below is an excerpt from the press release by Governor Brewer.
Apple is indisputably one of the world’s most innovative companies and I’m thrilled to welcome them to Arizona. Apple will have an incredibly positive economic impact for Arizona and its decision to locate here speaks volumes about the friendly, pro-business climate we have been creating these past four years. Their investment in renewable energy will also be greening our power grid, and creating significant new solar and geothermal power sources for the state. As Governor, I’ve worked hard to demonstrate that Arizona is open for business. Today’s news is proof that’s paying off.
Along with this announcement, GT Advanced also announced that it had reached a deal with Apple to provide sapphire glass to the Cupertino firm. The new plant will be used for the manufacturing of this new glass, which is the same as the glass lens that currently covers the camera on the back of iPhones, as well as covering the new Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
While it isn’t exactly clear what this increase in sapphire glass production means for the company, it is likely to help alleviate some production issues Apple has had recently, possibly due to a lack of the sapphire glass in manufacturing. What is your guess as to why Apple is increasing production of sapphire glass? Drop your comments below,
