I don't think Apple would just give the money away. This money is a loan and Finisar would have to pay back, I assume. The word "grant" feels like a gift that doesn't need to be returned. So, the title is a bit confusing for me
I thought this was part of that $1B investment fund Apple announced?
This is actually just an advance on future orders and serving two purposes: 1. Making sure Apple will have the inventory they need and 2. Essentially locking out large orders from other OEM's wanting to purchase the VSCEL component from Finisar (ie, Samsung).
So rather than the "$1B Advance Manufacturing Fund" being used to advance research and development to benefit the tech industry at large as it has sometimes been portrayed it appears, based on the money distributed so far, that in practice it's used as pre-payment against future Apple orders. Smart move to block purchase competition for some of the tough-to-manufacture components while at the same time marketing the effort as a technology grant fund (with its possible tax advantages?)
I don't think Apple would just give the money away. This money is a loan and Finisar would have to pay back, I assume. The word "grant" feels like a gift that doesn't need to be returned. So, the title is a bit confusing for me
I thought this was part of that $1B investment fund Apple announced?
This is actually just an advance on future orders and serving two purposes: 1. Making sure Apple will have the inventory they need and 2. Essentially locking out large orders from other OEM's wanting to purchase the VSCEL component from Finisar (ie, Samsung).
So rather than the "$1B Advance Manufacturing Fund" being used to advance research and development to benefit the tech industry at large as it has sometimes been portrayed it appears, based on the money distributed so far, that in practice it's used as pre-payment against future Apple orders. Smart move to block purchase competition for some of the tough-to-manufacture components while at the same time marketing the effort as a technology grant fund (with its possible tax advantages?)
Yes it is interesting how this was marketed vs how it’s being used. I imagine Apple would be using its cash for these purposes even if it didn’t have this fund. Isn’t that what Apple is known for?
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So rather than the "$1B Advance Manufacturing Fund" being used to advance research and development to benefit the tech industry at large as it has sometimes been portrayed it appears, based on the money distributed so far, that in practice it's used as pre-payment against future Apple orders. Smart move to block purchase competition for some of the tough-to-manufacture components while at the same time marketing the effort as a technology grant fund (with its possible tax advantages?)