Unlike GT Advanced Technologies, Japan Display will not have to front up with a lion's share of the cash only to find that Apple abandons it.

Apple may shoulder much of the $1.68 billion investment. This means that if Japan Display does produce smartphone screens at a price which Apple does not like, it may have to lump it, rather than bankrupt the company.

So far no one has confirmed the story, which appears to have come from the Japanese business press, which is not fond of making stuff up. It is more likely that Japan Display has to formally approach the decision.

The proposed plant in Ishikawa, central Japan, would start operations in 2016 and is expected to produce panels mainly for Apple but also for other companies, the paper said without disclosing its sources.