Apple partner Liquidmetal Technologies, maker of a unique metal alloy, announced on Wednesday it has begun shipping commercial parts to “several” customers, but declined to name any specifically.
Neil Hughes for AppleInsider:
Liquidmetal revealed that delivery of parts actually began to customers in December. But the company announced on Wednesday that its manufacturing operations are now shipping parts to a number of worldwide customers, and shipments are expected to continue into the months ahead.
“We are very excited about the use of amorphous metal alloy technology to deliver stronger, lighter and more corrosion resistant pats to our customers in varying industries globally,” said Liquidmetal President and CEO Tom Steipp. “These initial shipments represent a significant milestone in our efforts to provide a new class of materials for our customers to consider when designing complex parts.”
The timing of the announcement, coincidence or not, comes just a few hours before Apple is expected to show off it’s new generation of iPads. Apple purchased the exclusive rights to Liquidmetal’s amorphous metal alloys in consumer electronics.
Liquidmetal revealed in 2010 that it had granted all of its intellectual property assets to Apple, giving them “a perpetual, worldwide, fully-paid, exclusive license to commercial such intellectual property in the field of electronic products in exchange for a license fee.”
The first product Apple created out of Liquidmetal’s material was an iPhone SIM card ejector tool, but there has been no indication since then that any other products have been crafted from the Liquidmetal alloy.
