Rumour: Apple to invest $1 billion in Japanese Sharp factory, securing supply of iPhone and iPad screens

Sources at Reuters claim that Apple is planning to inject a $1 billion investment into a Sharp factory, triggering a clamour of Japanese parts-makers looking for Apple's business following its well-publicised legal dispute with current major supplier Samsung.

Reuters lists Elpida Memory Inc, a Japanese chipmaker, and with Toshiba Corporation among the companies hoping Apple's differences with Samsung will prove irreconcilable.

"If the situation escalates into a state of war, this could mean a huge shift in orders," said one unnamed source.

"An investment could lead to more ties between Apple and the suppliers to Sharp and Toshiba," said Shuzo Takada, a director of the Japanese trade ministry's industrial revitalisation division.

"At a time when Japan faces the threat of a hollowing out of industry, this is encouraging."

[source: Reuters]