Kioxia rules out manufacturing alliance with SK Hynix in Japan — The Japan Times
Japanese memory chipmaker Kioxia is not in talks with SK Hynix about joint production and is skeptical about the possibility of deepening such cooperation. Kioxia Chief Executive Hiroo Ota said the company would also seek to curb further sharp increases in memory chip prices in order not to weaken investment demand in artificial intelligence.
As The Japan Times reports, Ota described potential manufacturing cooperation with SK Hynix as difficult because of antitrust barriers and Kioxia’s joint production facilities with Sandisk. According to him, the Japanese and South Korean companies are not discussing joint manufacturing.
Shortages and production expansion
Memory chip manufacturers are expanding capacity amid a sharp increase in orders from artificial intelligence service providers. According to the publication, shortages of various types of memory have caused price increases of two- and even three-digit percentages.
Kioxia and Sandisk plan to allocate more than 5 trillion yen, or about $33 billion, to expand their joint plants in northern and central Japan. SK Hynix, in turn, plans to invest 54 trillion won, approximately $40 billion, in expanding production in South Korea and is building an advanced memory packaging facility in West Lafayette, Indiana.
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NAND memory prices
Kioxia specializes in NAND flash memory, which is used to store large amounts of data. The average price of its NAND products rose by 70% in the June quarter compared with the previous three months, when prices more than doubled.
Ota, who took over as head of Kioxia in April, said he had instructed sales departments not to seek substantial new price increases from data center operators. He did not rule out revising prices in the future, but stressed that the company’s current priority is to keep them at their present high level. According to him, another quarterly increase of 70% appears unlikely, as even the largest cloud service providers have limited budgets.
Ota also said there is strong demand for NAND chips from major technology companies, with some customers seeking to sign contracts through 2030. Kioxia is approaching its goal of securing 50% of its supply volume through long-term agreements.
