Kioxia, backed by Bain Capital, stated on November 5th that it anticipates the demand for flash memory to increase approximately 2.7 times within the five years leading up to 2028, against the backdrop of the booming development of artificial intelligence.
This chipmaker has been severely hit by the sluggishness of the memory chip market and is preparing for a large-scale capacity expansion at its new factory in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, north of Tokyo.
Kioxia, formerly Toshiba Memory, originally planned to start production at this factory last year but has postponed the production start time to the fall of 2025. The chipmaker has experienced years of turmoil, including being spun off from the scandal-ridden Toshiba by a consortium led by Bain.
Kioxia expects the demand for flash memory to nearly triple by 2028. Kioxia also manufactures chips in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, in central Japan, and announced in July that it had begun shipping samples of its latest generation of NAND flash memory.
The development of artificial intelligence is driving investments in servers, and the introduction of artificial intelligence capabilities is considered to have the potential to stimulate new demands for smartphones and personal computers.
Kioxia has available space in Yokkaichi. "With the Kitakami factory coming into operation next fall, we should have enough space to handle it," said Tomoharu Watanabe, Executive Vice President of Kioxia, after a prayer ceremony for the safety of the new factory. It was reported that Bain cancelled the company's initial public offering (IPO) plan in October after investors forced Kioxia to nearly halve its valuation.
Kioxia is a pilot case for Japanese acquisition companies and a key player in the government's hope to revitalize its once world-leading chip industry.
In February this year, Japan announced that it would provide up to $1.64 billion in subsidies to Kioxia and its partner Western Digital to expand the production capacity of the Yokkaichi and Kitakami factories.
Following: https://www.sic-chip.com/info-detail/kioxia-anticipates-that-the-demand-for-flash-memory-will-nearly-triple-by-2028