Apple and Toshiba building new LCD panel plant in Japan

by Steven Mostyn - Dec 14 2010, 10:18

Jobs & Co. have been splashing the cash this week after Apple apparently moved to ensure iPhone handsets keep rolling off production lines by investing heavily into the Japanese manufacturing market.

More pointedly, a report in the Nikkei business daily claims Apple is to share a $1.2 billion USD bill with consumer electronics giant Toshiba in order to build a new LCD production plant in Japan’s Ishikawa prefecture during 2011.

The plant, which will be located around 200 miles outside of Tokyo, is expected to craft low-temperature polysilicon LCD display panels for handheld devices and will be operated by Toshiba Mobile Display.

Once completed, the new manufacturing plant is likely to double the amount of panels currently being produced by a nearby facility also under Toshiba Mobile Display’s control.

The boosted output figure should reach around 17 million units per month (up from 8.55 million)—which will certainly help Apple meet consumer demand where its hugely popular smartphone is concerned.

Of course, as is Apple’s wont, the Cupertino-based tech company has not offered any official comment on the reported deal with Toshiba or how much cash it will be investing.

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