Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it has been adopted by Japan's national research and development agency, New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO), for its groundbreaking proposal on the Development of Manufacturing Technology for Innovative Memory to enhance the post-5G information and communication system infrastructure.

In the post-5G information and communication era, AI is estimated to generate an unprecedented volume of data. This surge will likely escalate the data processing demands of data centers and increase power consumption. To address this, it is crucial that the next-generation memories facilitate rapid data transfer with high-performance processors while increasing capacity and reducing power consumption.

KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced that it has begun mass production of the industry's first Universal Flash Storage (UFS) Ver. 4.0 embedded flash memory devices with 4-bit-per-cell, quadruple-level cell (QLC) technology.

QLC UFS offers a higher bit density than traditional TLC UFS, making it suitable for mobile applications that require higher storage capacities. Advancements in controller technology and error correction have enabled QLC technology to achieve this while maintaining competitive performance. KIOXIA's new 512 gigabyte (GB) QLC UFS achieves sequential read speeds of up to 4,200 megabytes per second (MB/s) and sequential write speeds of up to 3,200 MB/s, taking full advantage of the UFS 4.0 interface speed.

KIOXIA Europe, a worldwide leader in memory solutions, announce the EXCERIA PLUS G2 Portable SSD Series, a new external storage solution. Utilizing KIOXIA's SSD technology and BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory, the EXCERIA PLUS G2 Portable SSD Series features a compact, elegant, and handy design that is ideal for on-the-go users and content creators.

The KIOXIA EXCERIA PLUS Portable SSD series puts emphasis on both timeless design and portability with its elegant, pocket-sized housing. Compact and easy-to-grip, this portable SSD series fits up to 2 TB of data in the palm of your hand. Smaller and lighter compared to its award-winning predecessor, the new EXCERIA PLUS G2 Portable SSD's aluminium housing further improves ergonomics while enabling effective heat dissipation during heavy workloads. With speeds of up to 1050 MB/s read and 1000 MB/s write, the EXCERIA PLUS G2 Portable SSD Series features a slim USB Type-C connector with a USB 3.2 Gen 2 interface enabling fast transferring of 4K videos and high-res photos. Capacities will be offered in 500 GB, 1 TB and 2 TB.

Solid State Storage Technology Corporation (SSSTC) launches the EJ5 series PCIe 5.0 SSD, specifically designed for enterprise applications focusing on AI, data centers, and high-performance computing (HPC) fields. This SSD aims to provide exceptional performance and reliability, particularly designed for enterprise-grade servers, rugged devices, and high-intensity workloads for mixed-use applications with U.2 and E3.S specifications.

The EJ5 series SSD is well-suited for high-intensity applications such as AI and machine learning (ML) processing, virtualization, and real-time data analysis, as well as large database management. This series adopts PCIe 5.0 and NVMe 2.0 technology, with maximum sequential read and write speeds of up to 14 GB/s and 7.5 GB/s, and random read and write speeds reaching 2500K IOPS and 670K IOPS, respectively. Even under varying workloads and intense read/write operations, the QoS performance remains highly consistent, ensuring stable performance across different applications. In addition to ultra-high performance and stability, the EJ5 series features ultra-low latency, with random write latency as low as 14μs, providing rapid and stable data processing capabilities for AI applications.

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that the company's research papers have been accepted for presentation at IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM) 2024, a prestigious international conference to be held in San Francisco, USA, from December 7th to 11th.

Kioxia is committed to the research and development of semiconductor memory, which is indispensable for the advancement of AI and the digital transformation of society. Beyond its state-of-the-art three-dimensional (3D) flash memory technology BiCS FLASH, Kioxia excels at research in emerging memory solutions. The company is constantly striving to meet the needs for future computing and storage systems with innovative memory products.

The first reviews of Silicon Motion's new PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSD controller, the SM2508 are starting to appear online, and the good news is that the controller is as power efficient as promised by the company. Tom's hardware has put up their review of a reference design M.2 SSD from Silicon Motion and in their testing, equipped with 1 TB of Kioxia's 162-layer BiCS6 TLC NAND. It easily bests the competition when it comes to power efficiency. In their file copy test, it draws nearly two watts less than its nearest competitor and as much as three watts less than the most power hungry drive. It's still using about one watt more than the best PCIe 4.0 drives, but it goes to show that the production nodes matters, as the SM2508 is produced on a 6 nm node, compared to 12 nm for Phison's E26.

We should point out that the peak power consumption did go over nine watts, but only one of the Phison E26 drives managed to stay below 10 watts here. The most power hungry PCIe 5.0 SSD controller in the test, the InnoGrit IG5666 peaks at nearly 14 watts for comparison. Idle power consumption of the SM2508 is also very good, still drawing more than the PCIe 4.0 drives it was tested against, but far less than any of the other PCIe 5.0 drives. What about performance you ask? The reference drive places itself ahead of all the Phison E26 drives when it comes to sequential file transfers, regardless if it's to or from the drive. Random read IOPS also places right at the top, but it's somewhat behind when it comes to random writes, without being a slow drive by any means. Overall we're looking at a very promising new SSD controller from Silicon Motion with the SM2508 and TPU has also received a sample that is currently undergoing testing, so expect a review here soon.

TrendForce's latest reports reveal that the second quarter of 2024 saw a significant increase in demand for enterprise SSDs due to the increased deployment of NVIDIA GPU platforms and rising storage needs driven by AI applications, along with a surge in demand from server brands. The surge in demand for high-capacity SSDs for AI applications—coupled with suppliers' inability to adjust capacity in the first half of the year—resulted in a supply shortage that drove average enterprise SSD prices up by more than 25% QoQ. This price increase led to a revenue growth of over 50% for suppliers.

Looking ahead to the third quarter, demand from North American CSP customers continues to rise, and server brands show no signs of slowing down their orders, further boosting procurement volumes of enterprise SSD. With supply shortages persisting into the third quarter, TrendForce forecasts a 15% increase in contract prices compared to the previous quarter, with supplier revenues expected to grow by nearly 20%.

TrendForce reports that NAND Flash prices continued to rise in 2Q24 as server inventory adjustments neared completion and AI spurred demand for high-capacity storage products. However, high inventory levels among PC and smartphone buyers led to a 1% QoQ decline in NAND Flash bit shipments. Despite this, ASP increased by 15% and drove total revenue to US$16.796 billion, a 14.2% growth compared to the previous quarter.

All NAND Flash suppliers returned to profitability starting in the second quarter and are expanding capacity in the third quarter to meet strong demand from AI and server markets. However, weaker-than-expected PC and smartphone sales in the first half of the year are likely to constrain NAND Flash shipment growth.

KIOXIA America, Inc. will showcase a prototype broadband SSD with an optical interface for next-generation data centers at the FMS: the Future of Memory and Storage conference, being held in Santa Clara, California from August 6 to August 8. By replacing the electrical wiring interface with an optical interface, this SSD technology allows for greater physical distance between the compute and storage devices, slims down wiring and delivers high flexibility to data center system designs and applications—all while maintaining energy efficiency and high signal quality.

By adopting an optical interface, it becomes possible to aggregate individual components that make up systems, such as SSDs and CPUs, and seamlessly interconnect them. This furthers the evolution of a disaggregated computing system that can efficiently utilize resources according to a specific workload. Additionally, with its high signal integrity, the optical interface may enhance high-performance compute (HPC) environments, such as in supercomputers, cloud based-HPC and even applications in outer space.

SK hynix is reportedly developing 400-layer NAND flash memory, with plans to begin mass production by late 2025. The company is collaborating with supply chain partners to develop the necessary process technologies and equipment for 400-layer and higher NAND chips. This information comes from a recent article by Korean media outlet etnews citing industry sources.

SK hynix intends to use hybrid bonding technology to achieve this, which is expected to bring new packaging materials and components suppliers into the supply chain. The development process involves exploring new bonding materials and various technologies for connecting different wafers, including polishing, etching, deposition, and wiring. SK hynix aims to have the technology and infrastructure ready by the end of next year.

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that the building construction of Fab2 (K2) of its industry-leading Kitakami Plant was completed in July. K2 is the second flash memory manufacturing facility at the Kitakami Plant in the Iwate Prefecture of Japan. 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.

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

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that it started sample shipments of 2 Tb (Tera bit) Quad-Level-Cell (QLC) memory devices with its eighth-generation BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory technology. This 2 Tb QLC device has the highest capacity in the industry, elevating storage devices to a new capacity point that will drive growth in multiple application segments including AI.

With its latest BiCS FLASH technology, Kioxia has achieved both vertical and lateral scaling of memory die through proprietary processes and innovative architectures. In addition, the company has implemented the groundbreaking CBA (CMOS directly Bonded to Array) technology, which enables the creation of higher density devices and an industry-leading interface speed of 3.6 Gbps. Together, these advanced technologies are applied in the creation of 2 Tb QLC, resulting in the industry's highest capacity memory device.

Kioxia presented a technology roadmap at the IWM 2024 conference in Seoul, projecting the development of 1,000-layer 3D NAND by 2027. This ambitious goal is based on extrapolating past trends, which saw NAND layers increase from 24 in 2014 to 238 in 2022. Kioxia's plan involves not only increasing layer count but also shrinking cell size and increasing bit levels from TLC (3 bits per cell) to QLC (4 bits per cell), and possibly even to PLC (5 bits per cell).

However, these advancements come with significant technical challenges. Etching the vertical connecting holes (through-silicon vias or TSVs) are harder to achieve and can lead to higher channel resistance. Kioxia proposes solutions such as using single-crystalline silicon instead of polysilicon and switching from tungsten to molybdenum to reduce resistance. They also suggest moving to multi-lane wordlines to reduce the die area needed for electrical connectivity.

Kioxia Corporation, a world leader in memory solutions, today announced that KIOXIA PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs have been successfully tested for compatibility and interoperability with the Xinnor, Ltd. ("Xinnor") RAID solution and achieved up to 25x higher performance running PostgreSQL than software RAID solutions with the same hardware configuration. This solution will be demonstrated in the KIOXIA booth at COMPUTEX TAIPEI, which is being held from June 4 to June 7. PostgreSQL (with the pgvector extension) and vector databases are becoming more important for generative AI and RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) systems than before, and these results demonstrate the performance gains utilizing Xinnor's xiRAID Opus and KIOXIA PCIe 5.0 NVMe SSDs solution for a generative AI and RAG application.

New servers with the PCIe 5.0 interface and corresponding high-speed SSDs are in demand for high performance applications, such as generative AI, and the importance of PCIe 5.0-compatible SSDs to support this demand is increasing. The Kioxia and Xinnor high performance software RAID solution maximizes the performance of PCIe 5.0 SSDs for AI, Machine Learning (ML), and data analytics applications in on-premises enterprise data centers. KIOXIA CM7 Series SSDs successfully completed compatibility testing performed by both parties.

MSI also brought plenty of SSD products to the Computex 2024 show, including the new SPATIUM M560 PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2 SSD based on the Phison E31T controller and Kioxia's 218-layer BiCS 3D TLC NAND, the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution, and a couple of SSD accessories, including the DATAMAG Magnetic Portable SSD and the DATAVAULT SSD Enclosure.

As said, the new SPATIUM M560 PCIe 5.0 NVMe M.2 SSD will use the Phison 7 nm E31T controller paired up with Kioxia 8th generation 218-layer BiCS 3D TLC NAND and offer transfer rates of up to 10,000 MB/s. The controller, according to MSI, should bring up to a 15 percent reduction in power consumption as well as "maximize bandwidths and link efficiency". It will be available in 1 TB, and 2 TB capacities, and MSI will probably have a version that will include the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution which has been also showcased at the Computex 2024 show. MSI says that this is yet another world's first, which uses "a two-phase flow transition of gas and liquid with minimal signal interference, ensuring rapid and silent heat exchange." According to MSI, the new SPATIUM non-metal Vapor Chamber SSD Thermal Solution should provide up to 11 degrees lower temperature compared to a standard aluminium heatsink.

TrendForce reports that a reduction in supplier production has led to unmet demand for high-capacity orders since 4Q23. Combined with procurement strategies aimed at building low-cost inventory, this has driven orders and significantly boosted enterprise SSD revenue, which reached US$3.758 billion in 1Q24—a staggering 62.9% QoQ increase.

TrendForce further highlights that demand for high-capacity, driven by AI servers, has surged. North American clients increasingly adopt high-capacity QLC SSDs to replace HDDs, leading to over 20% growth in Q2 enterprise SSD bit procurement. This has also driven up Q2 enterprise SSD contract prices by more than 20%, with revenue expected to grow by another 20%.

TrendForce reports that adoption of enterprise SSDs by AI servers began in February, which subsequently led to large orders. Additionally, PC and smartphone customers have been increasing their inventory levels to manage rising prices. This trend drove up NAND Flash prices and shipment levels in 1Q24 and boosted quarterly revenue by 28.1% to US$14.71 billion.

There were significant changes in market rankings this quarter, with Micron overtaking Western Digital to claim the fourth spot. Micron benefited from slightly lower prices and shipments than its competitors in 4Q23, resulting in a 51.2% QoQ revenue growth to $1.72 billion in 1Q24—the highest among its peers.

Sabrent today debuted the Rocket 4 line of DRAMless M.2 NVMe Gen 4 SSDs. Built in the M.2-2280 form-factor, these drives take advantage of the PCI-Express 4.0 x4 host interface, and provide sequential transfer speeds of up to 7.4 GB/s reads, with up to 6.4 GB/s writes. The drives also offer 4K random access performance of up to 1 million IOPS reads, and 0.95 million IOPS writes. For now, Sabrent is launching 1 TB and 2 TB capacity variants of the Rocket 4, but the company is preparing to launch a larger 4 TB variant soon.

The Sabrent Rocket 4 combines a Phison E27T series DRAMless controller with Kioxia 162-layer 3D TLC NAND flash memory (also known as the BiCS 6). There's just a copper foil heat spreader to keep things cool. The 12 nm E27T doesn't run anywhere near as hot as the E18, so you can make do with the heatsink your motherboard includes, or run it the way it is. The 1 TB variant is priced at $99.99, and the 2 TB variant at $199.99. The company didn't reveal pricing of the unreleased 4 TB variant.

TrendForce reports that anticipation of NAND Flash price hikes into Q2 has motivated certain suppliers to minimize losses and lower costs in hopes of returning to profitability this year. Kioxia and WD led the charge from March, boosting their capacity utilization rates to nearly 90%—a move not widely adopted by their competitors.

TrendForce points out that to meet the demand surge in the second half of the year, especially given Kioxia and Western Digital's currently low inventory, the production increase is mainly targeting 112-layer and select 2D products. This strategy is expected not only to secure profitability within the year but also to contribute to a projected 10.9% rise in the annual NAND Flash industry supply bit growth rate for 2024.

With the effective reduction of production by suppliers, the price of memory is rebounding, and the semiconductor memory market finally shows signs of recovery. From the perspective of market dynamics and demand changes, NAND Flash, as one of the two major memory products, is experiencing a new round of changes. Since 3Q23, NAND Flash chip prices have been on the rise for several consecutive months. TrendForce believes that, under the precondition of a conservative market demand prospect for 2024, chip price trends will depend on suppliers' production capacity utilization.

There have been frequent developments in the NAND flash memory industry chain, with some manufacturers indicating a willingness to raise prices or increase production capacity utilization. Wallace C. Kou, General Manager of NAND Flash Supplier SIMO, stated that prices for the second quarter of NAND Flash have already been settled down, which will increase by 20%; some suppliers have started to make profits in the first quarter, and most suppliers will earn money after the second quarter.

Intel Corporation today announced that Stacy Smith, executive chairman of Kioxia Corporation, formerly Toshiba Memory Corporation, and chair of Autodesk Inc., was appointed to Intel's board of directors, effective immediately. Smith will serve as an independent director and join the board's Audit & Finance Committee.
"Stacy's deep understanding of the semiconductor industry, along with Intel's history and strategy, will be a significant asset to the board as it guides the company's transformation journey," said Frank D. Yeary, chairman of the Intel board. "In particular, Stacy's expertise in finance and leading capital allocation strategies in the capital-intensive semiconductor industry will be additive to Intel's board as the company continues its efforts to create a globally resilient semiconductor supply chain."

Smith, 61, spent nearly 30 years at Intel, serving in a variety of leadership roles. Prior to his retirement in 2018, he served as the group president of manufacturing, operations and sales, leading the company's global Technology and Manufacturing Group and its worldwide sales organization. Prior to this, he spent more than a decade in finance leadership roles, including as chief financial officer. In addition, Smith held the role of chief information officer and, before that, was general manager of Intel Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), where he was responsible for Intel sales and marketing for the EMEA region.

The third quarter of 2023 witnessed suppliers dramatically cutting production, which underpinned enterprise SSD prices. The fourth quarter saw a resurgence in contract prices, driven by robust buying activity and heightened demand from server brands and buoyed by optimistic capital expenditure forecasts for 2024. This, combined with increased demand from various end products entering their peak sales period and ongoing reductions in OEM NAND Flash inventories, resulted in some capacity shortages. Consequently, fourth-quarter enterprise SSD prices surged by over 15%. TrendForce highlights that this surge in demand and prices led to a 47.6% QoQ increase in enterprise SSD industry revenues in 4Q23, reaching approximately $23.1 billion.

The stage is set for continued fervor as we settle into the new year and momentum from server brand orders continues to heat up—particularly from Chinese clients. On the supply side, falling inventory levels and efforts to exit loss-making positions have prompted enterprise SSD prices to climb, with contract prices expected to increase by over 25%. This is anticipated to fuel a 20% revenue growth in Q1.

TrendForce reports a substantial 24.5% QoQ increase in NAND Flash industry revenue, hitting US$11.49 billion in 4Q23. This surge is attributed to a stabilization in end-demand spurred by year-end promotions, along with an expansion in component market orders driven by price chasing, leading to robust bit shipments compared to the same period last year. Additionally, the corporate sector's continued positive outlook for 2024 demand—compared to 2023—and strategic stockpiling have further fueled this growth.

Looking ahead to 1Q24, despite it traditionally being an off-season, the NAND Flash industry is expected to see a continued increase in revenue by another 20%. This anticipation is underpinned by significant improvements in supply chain inventory levels and ongoing price rises, with clients ramping up their orders to sidestep potential supply shortages and escalating costs. The ongoing expansion of order sizes is expected to drive NAND Flash contract prices up by an average of 25%.

Japan's Jiji news agency has cottoned onto a major computer memory industry rumble—a Friday Reuters report suggests that Kioxia has offered an olive branch to SK Hynix, perhaps in a renewed push to get its proposed (and once rejected) merger with Western Digital over the finishing line. The South Korean memory manufacturing juggernaut took great issue with the suggested formation of a mighty Japanese-American 3D NAND memory chip conglomerate—SK Hynix's opposition reportedly placed great pressure on Western Digital (WD), and discussions with Kioxia ended last October.

Kioxia is seemingly eager to resume talks with WD, but requires a thumbs up from SK Hynix—according to Jiji's insider source(s), the Tokyo-headquartered manufacturer is prepared to offer its South Korean rival a nice non-volatile memory production deal. Kioxia's best Japanese 3D NAND fabrication facilities could play host to SK Hynix designs, although it is too early to tell whether this bid has been accepted. The Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants are set to receive a 150 billion yen Government subsidy—Kioxia and WD's joint venture is expected to move into cutting-edge semiconductor production. The Japanese government is hoping to secure its native operations in times of industry flux.

Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corporation announced today that their joint venture manufacturing facilities at Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants have been approved to receive an up to 150 billion yen subsidy, including facilities that will produce its latest generation of 3D flash memory based on the innovative wafer bonding technology and future generation advanced nodes. The subsidy will be granted under a designated government program aimed at facilitating corporate investment in cutting-edge semiconductor production facilities and securing stable production of semiconductors in Japan. This marks the second time that Kioxia's and Western Digital's joint venture manufacturing facilities are receiving this subsidy from the Japanese government. Previously, the joint venture manufacturing facility at Yokkaichi was approved to receive up to 92.9 billion yen subsidy from the Japanese government in 2022.

Leveraging an over 20-year joint venture partnership, Kioxia and Western Digital will continue to enhance the development and production capabilities of cutting-edge flash memory at the Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants in Japan. In addition, the two companies will contribute to the development of semiconductor-related industries and talent.