Japan Display reportedly selling Apple-funded LCD factory to Sharp
Japan Display is reportedly finalizing a plan to sell its primary LCD production facility to Sharp in an attempt to ease its debts to Apple.
Japan Display is reportedly finalizing a plan to sell its primary LCD production facility to Sharp in an attempt to ease its debts to Apple.
Japan Display has reached out to both Apple and Sharp Corp in hopes of selling off its main smartphone screen factory in hopes to settle its massive debt.
Apple assembly partner Foxconn is reportedly considering the sale of an $8.8 billion display panel factory in China in reaction to the ongoing U.S.-China trade war.
Apple manufacturing partner Foxconn is re-evaluating what it wants to do with its location in Wisconsin and is saying that the site will be more research-oriented than a manufacturing boom for the region.
Sharp is seeking to enter the iPhone supply chain for models using an OLED display, a report claims, with the Foxconn-owned firm among other vendors expecting to enjoy a boom in OLED panel production and shipments throughout 2019.
Foxconn may transfer engineers from China to staff its under-construction facility in Wisconsin due to a lack of appropriate skilled labor in the area, with Apple's assembly partner keen to meet employment targets in order to retain $3 billion in state and local incentives.
Foxconn's upcoming $10 billion display factory in Wisconsin is more lucrative to the Apple supplier than first thought, with state and municipal sweeteners adding almost an extra $1 billion in benefits above an existing incentive package worth $3 billion, increasing the burden on taxpayers.
Originally intended to churn out larger displays for products like TVs, Foxconn's upcoming $10 billion Wisconsin factory may actually turn to making small- to medium-sized panels for the likes of Apple and automakers in a bid to cut costs, a report claimed on Wednesday.
Sharp will be making changes to its display panel production lines, according to a report, moving to increase the manufacture of IGZO and OLED-based panels, possibly in an attempt to acquire more display orders from Apple for the iPad and other connected devices.
Reports from the supply chain suggest that Apple is widening its supplier lists for the 2018 iPhone lineup, with the new report also saying that LG Innotek will be the main vendor instead of Sharp.
Samsung may soon face increased competition from its display production rivals, with a report claiming LG Display and other manufacturers are stepping up their OLED panel efforts to try and secure future orders from Apple to supply screen components for future iPhones.
Foxconn is pressing hard for a deal that would give it 25 percent of Toshiba's chip manufacturing business — an arrangement that would end up with Apple controlling 20 percent of the equity as well.
Apple's main assembly partner, Foxconn, is reportedly planning to invest $10 billion or more across several U.S. states, although the company is still deciding on which ones — including where to put a $7 billion display plant.
Apple's main assembly partner, Foxconn, reportedly saw its net income jump 30 percent to $2.3 billion in the December quarter, fueled heavily by the first full quarter of iPhone 7 sales.
Sources familiar with the matter have confirmed that Sharp is investing 1 trillion yen into OLED screen production, more than a month after reports circulated that it was planning to do so.
A long-discussed manufacturing plant, said to be built by Apple manufacturer Foxconn or its subsidiary Sharp, may break ground as soon as the summer of 2017 with Sharp at the helm, according to a new report
Japan's beleaguered Sharp, a regular Apple LCD supplier, generated its first quarterly net profits in two years during the December quarter — its first under the management of Apple's main assembly partner, Foxconn.
Three of Apple's key suppliers — Foxconn and its subsidiary Sharp, as well as chipmaker TSMC — have all expressed interest in taking advantage of business-friendly incentives proposed by incoming U.S. President Donald Trump, though no commitments have been made.
Foxconn-owned Sharp is reportedly planning to invest 100 billion yen, or about $864 million U.S., into setting up an OLED production line, amidst expectations that Apple's "iPhone 8" will switch from LCD display technology to OLED.
Foxconn-owned Sharp is likely to increase its investment in a Japanese lens module maker, Kantatsu, in a bid to win iPhone orders away from Taiwan's Largan Precision, a report said on Thursday.
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