Japan Display to cut domestic workforce by more than 1,000
Japan Display Inc. plans to lay off more than 1,000 employees in Japan as the once-ballyhooed manufacturer continues to suffer financial losses, sources said May 14.
The job cuts could potentially halve the company's current domestic workforce of about 2,700.
Workers at Japan Display's manufacturing bases will be affected by the consolidation, including those at its factory in Mobara, Chiba Prefecture, which is scheduled to close at the end of March 2026, the sources said.
The company had about 17,000 total employees in Japan and overseas in 2015.
However, Japan Display has long struggled, and it reduced its payroll by 1,200 employees in 2019.
Among its six manufacturing bases across Japan, only the factory in Kawakita, Ishikawa Prefecture, will remain after the Mobara plant closes.
PLUNGING STOCK PRICE
Japan Display was established through the integration of the small and mid-sized LCD panel businesses of Hitachi Ltd., Toshiba Corp. and Sony Corp. in 2012.
INCJ Ltd., a public-private investment fund under the industry ministry, temporarily held about 70 percent of Japan Display's shares, so the company was nicknamed 'Hinomaru LCD.'
However, the company's LCD business faced stiff competition from Chinese and Taiwanese manufacturers.
The shift from LCDs to organic electroluminescent displays for smartphones also exacerbated the financial difficulties of Japan Display, as did the depletion of its assets and revelations of accounting fraud.
The company's stock price was 769 yen ($5.40) when its shares were listed on the First Section of the Tokyo Stock Exchange in 2014.
But the closing price on May 14 this year was only 17 yen.
Japan Display posted 10 consecutive annual net losses up to the fiscal year that ended in March 2024.
The company is exploring ways to diversify its operations, including entering the touch-panel sensor and semiconductor packaging businesses.
It is scheduled to soon announce its financial results for the fiscal year that ended in March. Scott Callon, chairman and CEO of the company, will hold a news conference on the same day.
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