TOKYO — Former Toshiba memory unit Kioxia will invest 1 trillion yen ($9.5 billion) to build a factory in a bid to strengthen its production of cutting-edge NAND flash memory, the company said on Thursday, as it aims to meet rising demand brought on by the spread of 5G networks.
The Japanese maker of semiconductors plans to construct the new factory at its Yokkaichi plant, located in Mie Prefecture.
The investment will be a joint endeavor with U.S. partner Western Digital. The factory will be built in two phases, beginning in the spring of 2021. Total area will be 40,000 square meters, which is the largest among Kioxia’s factories.
Yokkaichi is the main production site for NAND flash memory, and the new factory will be the company’s seventh one there.
South Korea’s Samsung Electronics leads the market for NAND flash memory with a share of 35.9%, while Kioxia accounts for 19%.
Although the Japanese company postponed its initial public offering earlier this month due to uncertainty in the global chip market stemming from U.S.-China tensions, it will go through with its investment plan toward building the factory to be able to stay competitive in the market.
Kioxia began operations at its new flash memory factory in Iwate Prefecture earlier this year and is preparing for full-scale mass production.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s SK Hynix has struck a deal with Intel to acquire the U.S. company’s NAND memory business. With the support of the government, China’s top maker of memory chips, YMTC, is also strengthening its technological capabilities in this field.
