Apple may help save iPhones screen supplier Japan Display in bailout deal

TOKYO: Apple Inc supplier Japan Display Inc aims to seal a revised bailout deal by the end of this month for at least 50 billion yen ($468 million) in vital funding, its new chief executive said.
Minoru Kikuoka also told Reuters in an interview that liquid crystal display (LCD) screens are drawing renewed market interest, pointing to solid demand for affordable smartphones with low-cost screens.
“We are close to (raising) 50 billion and I believe we can cement the deal this month,” Kikuoka, who took the helm of the cash-strapped display maker in September, said.
The deal, if realised, would ease immediate risks of a cash shortfall after Chinese investment firm Harvest Group last month withdrew from the consortium of investors behind the bailout.