Foxconn is reportedly preparing to supply Apple with sapphire displays

Foxconn, the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing giant that’s responsible for assembling the vast majority of Apple’s iPhones and iPads, has reportedly reached an agreement with Apple to build a new factory on a 300-acre plot of land adjacent to the company’s iPhone 6 assembly plant in the Chinese city of Zhengzhou, according to Mac Rumors.

The new $2.6 billion factory is expected to produce sapphire displays for the next generation of iOS mobile devices, according to Focus Taiwan. This report comes less than two months after Apple’s previous sapphire display partner, GT Advanced Technologies, filed for bankruptcy.

Apple was expected to use GT’s sapphire displays on at least some of its current generation iPhone models, but production difficulties prevented this from happening and resulted in a major fallout between the two companies. However, Apple “has not given up on a plan to use sapphire displays in its next-generation smartphones.”

It’s unclear whether or not Foxconn will be able to have the factory up and running in time to equip Apple’s next generation of mobile devices, as some reports have claimed. Making such a large facility operational takes time, according to Hot Hardware, and it might be more realistic to expect the sapphire displays on Apple’s 2016 mobile line-up.