TOKYO, Sept. 13 (Xinhua) -- Japan Display Inc. said on Friday the closure of its plant in Ishikawa Prefecture will be extended owing in part to sluggish demand for Apple Inc.'s iPhone, although talks with China's Harvest Tech Investment Management Co. could lead to the plant being reopened.
Initially Japan Display had said its Hakusan plant in central Japan would be shuttered from July to September due to the fall in demand for Apple's displays and increased competition from Chinese manufacturers also making panels.
It could transpire, however, that Japan Display and China's Harvest Tech join forces in producing organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays at the plant, Japan Display indicated in a statement.
Japan Display said that following talks with Harvest Tech, it hopes to be able to make a decision as to whether to reopen the plant by the end of March 2020.
As the embattled Japanese panel maker sets about restructuring its operations, it said that under a voluntary early retirement program, more than 1,200 staff members working at domestic facilities will leave the company at the end of September.
