Japanese NAND flash giant Kioxia announced today (August 1st) that the building construction of Fab2 (K2) of its Kitakami Plant in Iwate Prefecture was completed in July. As demand is recovering, the company will gradually make capital investments while closely monitoring flash memory market trends. Kioxia plans to start operation at K2 in the fall of Calendar Year 2025, according to its press release.

A portion of investment for K2 will be subsidized by the Japanese government according to the plan approved in February 2024, according to Kioxia.

In addition, the company notes that some administration and engineering departments will move into a new administration building located adjacent to K2 beginning in November 2024 to oversee the operation of K2.

According to a report from Nikkei on July 31, Kioxia’s Kitakami Plant started production in 2020,with the construction of K2 began in 2022. Initially, K2 was scheduled to commence production in 2023.

However, due to a downturn in the memory market and weak demand for NAND Flash used in smartphones and PCs, Kioxia started to reduce production in October 2022, with the extent of production cuts exceeding 30%. As part of these production reduction measures, Kioxia postponed the production start of the K2 facility.

Nikkei’s report further indicates that with market conditions recovering, Kioxia ended its production cuts in June 2024, and the current production line utilization rate has returned to 100%.

To mass-produce advanced memory products, Kioxia, in collaboration with Western Digital (WD), plans to invest a total of 729 billion yen in the Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants, with the Japanese government providing up to 243 billion yen in subsidies.

The Kitakami plant will produce the most advanced “8th generation” memory, with a monthly production capacity of 25,000 wafers. These will be used in AI data centers, as well as in smartphones, PCs, and automotive applications.

On June 26, according to industry sources cited in a report from Reuters, Kioxia plans to submit an initial public offering (IPO) application to the Tokyo Stock Exchange in the near future, aiming to go public by the end of October. Sources indicate that Kioxia will submit its official IPO application by the end of August, with a target listing date at the end of October.

Read more

• [News] NAND Flash Giant Kioxia Reportedly Plans IPO by Late October amid Market Recovery
• [News] Kioxia Optimistic about NAND Market Sentiment; Price Hike Expected in Q2

(Photo credit: Kioxia)