Appearing to be strapped for cash, smartphone screen manufacturer Japan Display (JDI) is currently in talks with Chinese panel makers, including BOE, Tianma, and CSOT, over an investment more than  USD 1.8 billion. The Japanese company hopes to seal the deal by the end of March 2018, reported Kyodo News.

(Image: Japan Display Inc.)

JDI has been reporting financial loss over the past three years. Its loss in 3Q17 was even six times the amount in the prior year, according to its latest financial results. Orders for LCD displays from Apple contributed to over 50% of the revenue of the iPhone screen supplier. As Apple would purchase more OLED displays for its futuristic phones, JDI’s finance is very likely to be deteriorated.

The investment will be used to improve JDI’s OLED deposition technology in hope to mass produce small-sized OLED screens for smartphones in 2019 at the earliest. Meanwhile, JOLED, established by JDI in 2014, will also adopt its proprietary OLED printing technology to manufacture mid- and large-sized OLED displays such as OLED TVs.

Samsung and LG Display are currently dominating the OLED display market, while JOLED has an edge over them in terms of manufacturing technology. JOLED’s printing technology causes less waste of materials and is thus likely to reduce the production cost by 30-40% and offer displays at more competitive prices. A decline in prices of electronic devices with OLED displays can be anticipated once the company gears up for mass production.