Here are your Apple rumors and AAPL news items for Friday.

Thinner Display for Next iPhone: Focus Taiwan says Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) will switch from Taiwanese to Japanese display panel manufacturers in order to slim down the next-generation iPhone. The thinner Japan-made displays will use so-called in-cell technology, produced by Sony (NYSE:SNE), Sharp (PINK:SHCAY) and Toshiba, according to David Hsieh, vice president of DisplaySearch, Focus Taiwan noted. In-cell technology can be thinner because “the touch sensors are actually placed inside the color filters rather than on top of them,” noted Focus Taiwan. Taiwanese producers TPK and Wintek make the touch panels in the current iPhone using on-cell technology. A report at DigiTimes makes similar claims, citing unnamed sources in “Apple’s supply chain.”

Cell Phone Chip Supply Problems Could Delay iPhone 5. Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM) issued a warning this week that it may not be able to meet demand for high-end chips used in cell phones. The company is ramping up production, but will not be able to boost supplies of the chips until December, Reuters said. The chips in highest demand are those for Long Term Evolution (LTE) smartphones, Reuters noted, speculating that this could mean the new iPhone, which is widely expected to debut with LTE capability later this year, could be affected.

Apple Expands Operations in Ireland. The Irish Times reports that Apple will open a new office in Cork, Ireland, within the next 18 months. The facility will create 500 jobs and supplement existing offices in Hollyhill, which employs about 2,800, the Irish Times said. Apple officials told the Irish Times that the new Cork office will support the company’s operations throughout Europe. Apple’s Hollyhill facility — its first non-U.S. location — opened in 1980.

For more about the company, check out our previous Apple Rumors stories.