Prior to 2013 sapphire glass was still expensive at $30 per display, yet Corning gorilla glass costs only $3 per display. As cost of sapphire display was 10x more expensive only very high end smartphones like the the $6,630 Vertu Constellation could afford to use a sapphire glass display.
http://constellation.vertu.com/
http://pocketnow.com/2013/06/13/sapphire-iphone-screen
Vertu's CEO Perry Oosting recalled that Apple previously looked into the idea of giving the iPhone a synthetic sapphire screen, and even recruited employees from Vertu to work on the project. Oosting claims that concerns over the ability to produce such screens on the scale needed for the iPhone are what led Apple to abandon the idea.
During February 2013 Barcelona Mobile World GT Advanced Technologies demonstrated low cost sapphire glass. GT Advanced told conference attendees they aim to sell smartphone sapphire covers for less than $10 in the future:
Following video shows how GT Advanced Technologies make synthetic, manmade sapphire in their furnaces:
As each furnace can cost between $300,000 and $400,000.it takes a significant investment to make millions of smartphone and tablet displays.so in November 2013, Apple and GT Advanced struck a deal to open and operate a manufacturing facility in Mesa, Arizona related to sapphire crystal components according to GT announcement:
"The company also announced that it has entered into a multi-year supply agreement with Apple Inc. to provide sapphire material. GT will own and operate ASF® furnaces and related equipment to produce the material at an Apple facility in Arizona where GT expects to employ over 700 people. Apple will provide GT with a prepayment of approximately $578 million. GT will reimburse Apple for the prepayment over five years, starting in 2015"
GT Advanced demonstrations were compelling, and the science seems to back it up. Sapphire is a naturally growing crystal and is the second hardest substance on earth. It’s so hard, only diamond-tipped saws can cut it. GT Advanced grows sapphire and then melts and hardens them into ‘boules,’ which are 115 kilogram, or 254 lb. clear cylinders. Those cylinders are then cut into cubes, which are then chopped up into slices and shapes as thin and wild as you can imagine.
Sapphire can be made as clear as glass and as thin as you desire, and is the perfect material for a phone or tablet screen because almost nothing can scratch it. The crystal is regularly used in things like jewelry, watches, military windshields, LED TVs, and LED light bulbs, but the sapphire industry is a few years late to the game when it comes to mobile touchscreens.
The sapphire glass can also be strengthened to protect the smartphone display from impact, technique similar to bullet proof glass can be used by bonding two or more types of glass, one hard and one soft. The softer layer makes the glass more elastic, so it can flex instead of shatter.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulletproof_glass
Can already purchase XGear Crystal sapphire glass screen protector:
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