Apple display maker Japan Display has, quite literally, millions of reasons why it’s desperate for Apple to switch to OLED displays for the iPhone as soon as possible.
The company reported a ¥31.8 billion ($293.5 million) loss for the recently-ended fiscal year as the rising value of the yen, and slowing iPhone and iPad sales, hit the manufacturer hard. And according to its bosses, it’s counting on Apple introducing OLED iPhone displays to help bail it out!
While currently the iPhone 6s generation of phones use LED displays, recent reports have suggested that next year’s iPhone 7s or 8 (depending on how Apple chooses to name its ten-year anniversary iPhone) could boast an OLED display of up 5.8-inches in size.
Having previously built a dedicated facility for creating displays for Apple, Japan Display is reportedly one of several companies Apple will rely on for its transition to OLED displays. However, the company could have its work cut out for it winning large quantities of orders: Samsung, a leader in OLED display research and AMOLED production, has been reported as being “on the fast track” to building a dedicated facility for supplying the high-end screens to Apple.
A plan to turn things around by buying struggling iPhone display maker Sharp didn’t work out, either — as Japan Display was beaten out by Foxconn, which also wants to compete in the OLED display market, using some of the patents Sharp owns regarding this area of research.
Source: WSJ
