The China Post
Date: February 18, 2017
By: Christine Chou

TAIPEI, Taiwan — Taiwan-based Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. (鴻海), the world’s largest contract electronics maker, and its Japanese subsidiary Sharp have reportedly sped up plans to build a plant for the mass production of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) displays.

Japanese newspaper Nikkei recently reported that Hon Hai and Sharp may build a new 100-billion-yen (US$854 million) OLED factory in Zhengzhou, in China’s east-central Henan province. The panels will be tailored specifically for Apple products, the report said.

Hon Hai, better known as Foxconn outside of Taiwan, has also set up an iPhone assembly plant in Zhengzhou, so the close proximity of Sharp’s display production and the parent company’s assembly plant will reduce logistical costs and give the group a competitive edge.

The Nikkei report said the Sharp plant has pushed its schedule forward to ramp up production earlier than the previous target of 2019 in a bid to compete with other Chinese rivals as media reports revealed that Apple has been exploring alternatives to address a global shortage of OLED displays for its next iPhones.    [FULL  STORY]