One of the last almost independent Japanese display manufacturers, Japan Display (JDI) reported on the work in the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2018 (January-March 2019 period). Nearly independent means that nearly 50% of Japan Display shares foreign companies, namely the Sino-Taiwan Suwa consortium. Earlier this week it was reported that JDI's new partners promised assistance in the amount of about $ 730 million. The reason is that investors want to see steps from Japan Display aimed at optimizing costs.
At the quarterly conference, JDI management announced that among the measures to optimize costs, it is planned to cut 20% of the company's staff, or about 1000 people. All of them voluntarily decided to leave the company or take early retirement. Another savings item was the write-off of the assets of two JDI plants: Hakusan Plant and Mobara Plant. At first, the write-off added 75,2 billion yen ($686 million) to the company in losses, but in the new fiscal year alone, this will bring savings of 11 billion yen ($100 million).
Concerning in the reporting period, from January to March inclusive, JDI received 171,3 billion yen ($1,56 billion). This is 13% more than in the same quarter last year, but 32% less than in the previous quarter. The manufacturer of displays for mobile devices explains the consistent quarterly decline in revenue with a seasonal factor and a decrease in demand for smartphones. Significant operating losses of the company in the reporting period appeared due to increased costs to prepare for the mass production of OLED screens. Net income is missing from the JDI report for both the reporting quarter and previous quarters. Except for the year, Japan Display's net quarterly losses decreased from 146,6 billion yen ($1,33 billion) to 98,6 billion ($899 million).
In the Smartphone (Mobile) category, quarterly revenue fell sequentially by 39% to 127,5 billion yen. Mostly, the flow of money has decreased from the US and, more strongly, from China. For financial 2018 revenue in a segment fell by 17% to 466,9 billion yens ($4,23 billion). In the automotive products category, revenue grew only 4% year-on-year to 112,3 billion yen ($1,02 billion), although fourth quarter revenue growth was already 8%. Separately, the company emphasized the growth in supplies of screens for laptops, VR headsets and wearable electronics. Still, this will not help the company avoid new losses in the first half of fiscal 2019, although revenue should start to grow in the second half.
Source: 3dnews.ru