Apple In Talks With Japan Display To Build $1.7 Billion iPhone Screen Manufacturing Plant

Apple could soon have a more stable supply of displays for its flagship smartphone as the company is reportedly in talks with Japan Display to build an iPhone screen-manufacturing plant.

According to a report by Japan's Nikkan Kogyo, Apple and Japan Display are currently considering an agreement under which the Cupertino, California-based technology giant could cover a substantial portion of the costs of building a 200 billion yen (about $1.7 billion) manufacturing plant for LCD displays for the iPhone.

The new facility, which is expected to be built in Ishikawa in central Japan, is likely to begin production in 2016. Although Japan Display has not yet confirmed the report, CEO Shuichi Otsuka had said last year that the company needed a new plant, Reuters reported.

Apple Insider reported, citing sources, that the plant would produce LTPS (low temperature polysilicon) displays, a technology first used by Apple in its latest iPhone 6 handset.

Meanwhile, Japan Display told Reuters that the company was pursuing opportunities, including building a new plant, to regain its competitiveness. “No formal decision has been made regarding any matter that we need to disclose,” the company said in a statement, obtained by Reuters.

The news comes three months after Bloomberg reported that Foxconn would build a new $2.6 billion plant over the next two years in Taiwan to supply LCD displays exclusively to Apple. Mass production of panels at the plant is expected to begin by the end of 2015.