Chinese electronic parts maker O-Film Tech could bail out the struggling Japan Display, a new report reveals. Both companies are listed on Apple’s 2018 Supplier List.
O-Film reportedly wants to buy a 33 percent stake in Japan Display, which provides Apple with LCD displays. Japan Display has been having major problems for some time. This year alone, its stock has fallen 80 percent.
In order to make the investment, O-Film is reportedly looking to obtain a $413 million credit from lenders including China’s Bank of Communications and the Tokyo-based Mizuho Bank’s Chinese unit.
Japan Display’s decline has been caused by a number of factors, although its refusal (or inability) to quickly embrace OLED technology hasn’t helped. It has also reportedly been hurt by diminishing iPhone orders.
Recently, the company’s Chief Technology Officer Kazutaka Nagaok said that Japan Display must find something else to bring in revenue, or Japan Display wouldn’t survive. In the past year, it has shifted one-third of its research staff over to smart sensor development.
The Shenzhen-based O-Film, on the other hand, seems to have thrived. Producing multiple parts, including camera modules for smartphones, its sales climbed 26 percent last year. Earlier in 2018, it agreed to buy a Fujifilm Holdings plant in China to manufacture lenses for car-based cameras.
Source: Nikkei Asian Review
