JDI茂原工厂出售传出Micron和半导体基板厂等买方兴趣，但仍停留在谈判/意向阶段

Micron, Semiconductor Substrate Makers Show Interest in JDI's Mobara Plant Sale

Japanese display maker Japan Display Inc. (JDI) has drawn interest in the sale of its Mobara plant (fab), which halted operations this March, not only from Micron of the United States and several data center operators but also from a semiconductor substrate maker, according to sources on the 8th.

The JDI Mobara plant previously produced sixth generation liquid crystal displays (LCD) and organic light emitting diodes (OLED). It also mass produced OLED panels for the Apple Watch until the second half of 2025. As JDI had announced in the first quarter of 2025, it halted operations at Mobara in March 2026.

Industry source A said, "Micron and several data center operators have submitted letters of intent to JDI to acquire the Mobara plant." Another source B said, "Micron and a Korean semiconductor substrate maker, among others, are in talks with JDI over purchasing the Mobara plant." At its quarterly earnings announcement in early August, JDI stated that it was in discussions with multiple companies regarding the sale of the plant.

The reason Micron, data center operators, and semiconductor substrate makers are interested in the Mobara plant comes down to time. Building a new plant from scratch and securing government permits would take years before mass production could begin. Buying the Mobara plant shortens that timeline accordingly.

Because Mobara previously produced sixth generation LCD and OLED panels, its cleanroom cleanliness levels make it unsuitable for semiconductor front end processing, but the site can be used as a data center or as a back end packaging plant for products such as glass substrates. That is why Micron, data center operators, and substrate makers are interested. The sale price for the plant is currently reported to be under discussion at around KRW 500 billion, though the figure could change depending on circumstances.

OLEDWorks, a US OLED company working with JDI, is reported to be interested not in the Mobara plant but in the 4.5 generation Ishikawa plant. Ishikawa has a line capable of backplane (BP) processing. For OLEDWorks, securing a plant that can reliably handle BP processing going forward is a necessity.

JDI is currently considering selling its plants, including Mobara and Ishikawa, separately to different buyers. If each of these deals goes through, the ownership of JDI's plants would change hands individually.

JDI was formed in 2012 under the lead of the Japanese government (Innovation Network Corporation of Japan) by consolidating the LCD businesses of Sony, Toshiba, and Hitachi. It subsequently failed to respond to market shifts such as the growing adoption of OLED in smartphones and fell behind Korean and Chinese panel makers in competition. In November 2024, JDI unveiled a new catchphrase, "Beyond Display." Whereas the old JDI consisted solely of displays, the company said the new JDI would comprise displays, sensors, artificial intelligence (AI) data centers, and advanced semiconductor packaging.

Meanwhile, most of the equipment related to eLEAP, the technology JDI had developed at the Mobara plant, was purchased by China's HKC. eLEAP patterns red, green, and blue (RGB) OLED subpixels through a photolithography process without using a fine metal mask (FMM). Its viability for mass production has yet to be verified. The technology is similar in principle to FLiPP, which LG Display unveiled at IMID this August.

The appeal of JDI's eLEAP patents is limited. This is because JDI is reported to have sold licenses (rights of use) for the patents to Applied Materials (AMAT), which makes the deposition equipment required to implement eLEAP, and others. JDI sells the licenses to AMAT and others and collects royalties, which means a third party that buys the patents from JDI cannot use them exclusively. Several panel makers in Korea and abroad are developing eLEAP type technology, but there is little incentive to purchase the JDI patents.

$MU