On October 6, GT Advanced Technologies (GTAT) - the company which supplies sapphire glass to Apple for the Apple Watch device - filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The move has triggered doubts about whether tech giant Apple will use sapphire as a protective cover for its next-generation iPhone, because the company will not likely source the material from another supplier.

Though the filing of bankruptcy by GTAT has brought the next-generation iPhone's sapphire screen into question, KGI analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said in a recent research note that the move will apparently not have much impact on the production of Apple Watch.

According to Kuo's research note, obtained by AppleInsider, the filing of bankruptcy by GTAT - which operates the Apple-owned facility in Arizona - will likely affect next-generation iPhones because Apple had invested millions of dollars in the supplier chiefly was for iPhone touch panels.

Noting that the big-sized iPhones require a 6-inch sapphire ingot, Kuo said that Apple seemingly prefers sapphire produced at GTAT's advanced sapphire furnace (ASF) because of its higher resilience and superior drop-test performance vis-à-vis sapphire produced by other suppliers.

Kuo has asserted in the research note: "While GTAT's ASF sapphire isn't the only sapphire ingot source for iPhone sapphire cover lens that is being tested by Apple, we don't think Apple will turn to other suppliers given the notionally superior drop-test performance of GTAT's sapphire ingot."