Toshiba to build LCD factory for future iPhone production

By Andrew Wray
last updated

iPhone 4 Retina Display

Toshiba Corp is said to be building a large factory in Ishikawa Japan to supply Apple with LCD panels for their popular iPhone, according to Reuters:

Toshiba Corp will spend about 100 billion yen ($1.19 billion) to build a factory for making small LCD panels, mainly to supply to Apple Inc's iPhones, the Nikkei business daily said.

Construction of the plant will begin in early 2011, with LCD production set to begin in the second half of the year. The plant will reportedly churn out around 17 million LCD panels for Apple. Given the timeline, it may not be ready to handle a June iPhone 5 release but will almost certainly be ready to mass produce iPhone 6 in 2012. Hopefully that will help avoid production shortages for Apple (like the iPad experienced with LG panels).

And yes, it does say LCD and not S/AMOLED, so that may also indicate no screen technology changes for the next few years either.

[Reuters]

Andrew Wray

Andrew Wray is a Salt Lake City, Utah based writer who focuses on news, how-tos, and jailbreak. Andrew also enjoys running, spending time with his daughter, and jamming out on his guitar. He works in a management position for Unisys Technical Services, a subsidiary of Unisys Corporation.