Apple's search for better iPhone screens hinges on sole supplier

Tokyo

APPLE Inc's quest to adopt advanced displays for its next-generation iPhone hinges on a single supplier in the Japanese countryside.

Canon Tokki Corp, surrounded by rice fields in the city of Mitsuke in Niigata prefecture, has a near monopoly on the machines capable of making screens with organic light-emitting diodes (OLED), which enable sharp, vibrant displays that use less energy. A unit of Canon Inc, the company of 343 employees has spent more than two decades perfecting the manufacturing equipment used by OLED screen makers.