Apple helping out LCD supplier Japan Display with shorter payment terms

Alongside previously reported bailout aid, Apple is now said to be helping financially troubled Japan Display by shortening the amount of time it takes to pay the screen manufacturer.

Apple is continuing to support the iPhone screen manufacturer Japan Display by shortening its payment periods, the time between delivery of screens and Apple paying for them. It's part of a short term plan to stabilize the screen firm's finances, and comes alongside Apple's previous moves to help the company.

According to Reuters, Japan Display's new CEO Minoru Kikuoka told reporters that an immediate cashflow shortfall had been allayed. He did not give any details, including naming any investors, but sources report that the aid has come from Apple.

Kikuoka did say that other business partners have eased their payment conditions, and that in total this would mean Japan Display's short-term financing situation would be improved by as much as $370 million.

Separately, Apple has been considering a further bailout of the company following the recent failure of a consortium which had been about to invest in it.

According to Kikuoka, the revised bailout deal will be sufficient to keep the company in business, though he notes that it may not be finalized this month as planned.

Reuters reports that Japan Display depends on Apple for 60% of its revenue, and that it has had five years of losses. Japan Display previously made LCD screens for iPhones but was slow to move to the OLED ones Apple is increasingly using for devices such as the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

10 Comments

CloudTalkin 916 comments · 5 Years

About 5 years ago

Explanations for Apple's continued rescue of JDI:

Apple's wife is tied up in the basement at JDI HQ
Apple's husband is tied up in the basement at JDI HQ
Apple's husband AND wife are tied up in the basement at JDI HQ (hey, I don't judge)

It's literally the only thing that makes sense at this point.

lkrupp 10521 comments · 19 Years

AppleInsider said:

Japan Display previously made LCD screens for iPhones but was slow to move to the OLED ones Apple is increasingly using for devices such as the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Well there you have it. More than one company has been caught with its pants down when technology moved on.

gatorguy 24609 comments · 13 Years

CloudTalkin said:

Explanations for Apple's continued rescue of JDI:
Apple's wife is tied up in the basement at JDI HQ
Apple's husband is tied up in the basement at JDI HQ
Apple's husband AND wife are tied up in the basement at JDI HQ (hey, I don't judge)
It's literally the only thing that makes sense at this point.

The assumption I would make is that Japan Display has already been contracted for a display engineered for an upcoming Apple product which can't(won't) be delayed.

yuck9 111 comments · 13 Years

GT Advanced Technologies repeat ?

lkrupp said:

AppleInsider said:

Japan Display previously made LCD screens for iPhones but was slow to move to the OLED ones Apple is increasingly using for devices such as the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max.

Well there you have it. More than one company has been caught with its pants down when technology moved on.

Their pants were down because they were servicing Apple (pun intended). Apple loaned JDI $1.5B for an LCD plant when almost everyone else was moving to OLED... including Apple. They built a plant for a product that was no longer top priority for their #1 customer. The only way to pay Apple back was for that plant to be producing copious amounts of LCD panels. We know that didn't, and probably never will happen. JDI's success seemed to hinge on Apple doing what they had always done: use LCD panels for their phones. That billion dollar investment probably made JDI's management think Apple was going to forego OLED, stick with LCD for the foreseeable future, and switch to microl LED further down the road. Although that scenario is entirely my conjecture, I don't think it's unrealistic that JDI's thinking was similar to that.