TOKYO: Japan Display Inc is reportedly working on a plant to manufacture smartphone screens for Apple Inc and is negotiating with the US company for investment in the project.
Japan Display, the Japanese screen maker aims to be the primary supplier of high-tech screens for Apple’s wildly popular iPhones. Global iPhone sales, notably in China, have surged to make Apple the most profitable company in history.
The Japanese screen maker wants Apple to shoulder much of the expected JPY 200 billion ($1.7 billion) investment in the plant, which aims to be in operation next year, as the talks yet remain confidential.
Japan Display said in a statement that it was constantly pursuing opportunities to strengthen its competitiveness, including building a new plant. “No formal decision has been made regarding any matter that we need to disclose,” it said.
The most likely site for the plant is in Ishikawa, central Japan. It would have a capacity greater than an existing facility in Mobara, southeast of Tokyo, which makes 50,000 of the 1.5 by 1.85 metre sheets a month for iPhone 6 screens and other uses.
Japan Display Chief Executive Shuichi Otsuka said last year that the company needed a new plant as it was reaching capacity at Mobara.
