Japan Display in talks with Apple to build $1.7 billion plant: Report

Japan Display is considering building a new plant to supply smartphone screens for Apple, which may shoulder much of the 200 billion yen ($1.68 billion) investment, Japan’s Nikkan Kogyo newspaper said.

The company declined to confirm the report but said it was constantly pursuing opportunities to strengthen its competitiveness, including building a new plant.

“No formal decision has been made regarding any matter that we need to disclose,” it added in a statement. The proposed plant in Ishikawa, central Japan, would start operations in 2016 and is expected to produce panels mainly for Apple but also for other companies, the paper said without disclosing its sources.

The news sent shares in Japan Display to as high as 528 yen in early Tokyo trade, up 14 percent, before they retreated to 501 yen by 0214 GMT.

An earlier report suggests that Apple was awarded a patent on a headset that could let iPhones be part of augmented or virtual reality displays. A smartphone would essentially become a screen set directly before the wearer’s eyes, with the option of picture-in-picture if a person wants to watch what is happening around him or her.

The gadget described in the patent is similar to Gear VR head gear released last year by Samsung and paired with the South Korean consumer electronics titan’s large-screen Galaxy Note 4 smartphones.

With inputs from Reuters