Five years ago, there was genuine hope for Japan Display. With $2bn of backing from a Japanese state-backed fund, engineers of small screens at Sony, Toshiba and Hitachi had joined forces in 2012 to become the key supplier of Apple’s iPhone displays. Just two years later, a profitable Japan Display, armed with the biggest share of the global smartphone screen market, raised $3.1bn in an initial public offering. It was a moment of triumph for the economy, trade and industry ministry that all-Japan solutions could work.
But that is pretty much where the success story ends and a familiar tale emerges — of a Japanese company hobbled by pressures from the government and competition from low-cost regional rivals. Japan Display’s financial state has deteriorated to such an extent that it is now in talks to receive a minority investment from companies in China and Taiwan.
From its IPO price of ¥900 ($8.22) set in March 2014, the stock has fallen to ¥76. The company has not made a profit for the past four years, and its warning this week of a slowdown in China and the fallout from the US-China trade war suggest it will remain in the red this year as well. During this period, three chief executives have attempted a turnround without success.