MERRIMACK, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--GT Advanced Technologies Inc., (NASDAQ: GTAT), today announced that its sapphire equipment customer, Haotian Optoelectronics Technology (HTOT), celebrated the opening of its sapphire production facility with a gala event on Wednesday, October 26, at HTOT's new facility located in Guiyang City, Guizhou Provence, China. The city's Vice Mayor hosted the celebration, which included attendance of key provincial and local party officials as well as HTOT sapphire material customers. Attending on GT's behalf were president and CEO Tom Gutierrez, Cheryl Diuguid, the company's vice president and general manager of its sapphire material and equipment business and Jeff Ford, GT's vice president and general manager of Asia.
"We were delighted to be part of HTOT's celebration commemorating their official entrance into the sapphire material industry," said Tom Gutierrez. "Over the coming months we will work closely with the HTOT team to ensure a smooth ramp to volume production in their new state-of-the-art facility, which incorporates our ASF crystal growth equipment. In their initial production runs, HTOT has successfully grown four high quality boules, all of which were over 100 kilograms."
Gutierrez continued, "GT has a proven track record of partnering with companies to accelerate their entry into new markets by giving them the tools and support they need to become key industry players. Over the next few months we expect several of our other key sapphire customers in Asia to start producing sapphire and we look forward to working with these customers to ensure their smooth entrance into the sapphire growth industry."
GT announced the sale of its ASFTM sapphire crystal growth furnaces to HTOT in a press release in April, 2011. In the six months since the announcement, HTOT has built a state-of-the-art production facility and is in the process of completing the installation of equipment and ramping to volume production. When the plant is fully operational it will be capable of producing 30,000,000 TIE of sapphire material annually.
About GT Advanced Technologies Inc.
GT Advanced Technologies Inc. is a global provider of polysilicon production technology, and sapphire and silicon crystalline growth systems and materials for the solar, LED and other specialty markets. The company's products and services allow its customers to optimize their manufacturing environments and lower their cost of ownership. For additional information about GT Advanced Technologies, please visit www.gtat.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Some of the statements in this press release are forward-looking in nature, including statements regarding expected performance of the Company's products. These statements are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside the Company's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Factors that may cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by our forward-looking statements include the possibility that the Company is unable to recognize revenue on customer contracts, that technological changes could render existing products or technologies obsolete, the Company may be unable to protect its intellectual property rights, competition from other manufacturers may increase, exchange rate fluctuations and conditions in the credit markets and economy may reduce demand for the Company's products and various other risks as outlined in GT Advanced Technologies Inc's (formerly Solar International, Inc.) filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the statements under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2011 filed on May 26, 2011 and quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal 2012 filed on August 5, 2011. GT Advanced Technologies, Inc. is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.
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Contacts
GT Advanced Technologies
Media:
Jeff Nestel-Patt, 603-204-2883
jeff.nestelpatt@gtat.com
or
Investors/Analysts:
Ryan Blair, 603-681-3869
ryan.blair@gtat.com
GT Advanced Technologies president and CEO Tom Gutierrez celebrates the unveiling of the first sapphire boules produced in HTOT's new sapphire manufacturing facility located in Guiyang City, China. (Photo: Business Wire)