The news comes from a Japanese publication named Asahi. According to the report, Japan Display is currently going through restructuring and Apple’s $100 million deal will be a huge benefit for the company. However, it should be noted that this is not the first time that Apple is conducting business with Japan Display. The Cupertino-based technology giant has been doing business with the display maker for quite some time now. Apple is one of the major buyers of Japan Display and is also responsible for around 60% of Japan Display’s business. The abovementioned business deal will turn a new page for both the companies.
The new business deal between Apple and Japan Display will help the American technology giant to move the bulk of its LCD display orders from China to Japan. According to 9to5Mac, earlier in 2015, Apple had funded most of the $1.5 billion LCD screen-making factory for Japan Display. Apple also asked for assurance from the display maker that the company will pay back the received funding by giving a percentage of sales from each display to it. Although it’s been few years since then, but Japan Display still has to pay a good amount of the funding that it received. However, Japan Display has not been making enough profit in the past few years and is running on losses since Apple funded the billion-dollar factory. Japan Display’s new factory is reportedly running on half its capacity as smartphone makers have switched to using OLED display panels instead of the LCD ones. But even so, Japan Display is still one of the most important suppliers of Apple as the company makes OLED display panels for the Apple Watch along with LCD displays for the current iPhone XR. Earlier reports suggested that Apple will bring three new iPhones this year and among them, the affordable variant will sport an LCD panel instead of an AMOLED one. So, other than the iPhone XR and the older smartphone models, maybe one of the upcoming handsets from Apple will pack an LCD panel.
