Kioxia & Sandisk begin 10th-gen (BiCS10) 3D flash production at Kitakami Fab2
Kioxia and Sandisk started production of 10th-generation 3D flash (332-layer, CBA bonding, 4.8Gb/s interface, +59% bit density, 1Tb TLC samples) at Fab2, Kitakami, Japan; JV extended through December 2034; Kioxia says 2026 NAND/SSD output a
On 2026-07-02, the verified AI news record added a significant chips, cloud & infrastructure development: Kioxia and Sandisk started production of 10th-generation 3D flash (332-layer, CBA bonding, 4.8Gb/s interface, +59% bit density, 1Tb TLC samples) at Fab2, Kitakami, Japan; JV extended through December 2034; Kioxia says 2026 NAND/SSD output already sold out.
Context
Kioxia and Sandisk started production of 10th-generation 3D flash (332-layer, CBA bonding, 4.8Gb/s interface, +59% bit density, 1Tb TLC samples) at Fab2, Kitakami, Japan; JV extended through December 2034; Kioxia says 2026 NAND/SSD output already sold out. AI-driven NAND shortage relief; Kioxia shares rose 8.9% on the news.
What changed
Kioxia and Sandisk started production of 10th-generation 3D flash (332-layer, CBA bonding, 4.8Gb/s interface, +59% bit density, 1Tb TLC samples) at Fab2, Kitakami, Japan; JV extended through December 2034; Kioxia says 2026 NAND/SSD output already sold out. According to Sandisk newsroom (primary); Business Wire; StorageNewsletter, the supporting record states: “Kioxia… and Sandisk… today announced the start of production for their 10th-generation 3D Flash memory technology at Fab2 (K2) at the Kitakami Plant… The eighth and further generation flash memory products produced at the Fab2 will deliver new value to the rapidly growing AI market.”.
Why it matters
AI-driven NAND shortage relief; Kioxia shares rose 8.9% on the news. The infrastructure angle is material because AI deployment depends on power, chips, networking, cooling, and capacity commitments as much as on model quality.
Details
The research file records the item under “Kioxia & Sandisk begin 10th-gen (BiCS10) 3D flash production at Kitakami Fab2” with source timing of July 2–3, 2026. The captured research confidence note is: Company update / High (primary). AI-driven NAND shortage relief; Kioxia shares rose 8.9% on the news.
Limitations and caveats
The research file did not identify a blocking caveat, but vendor-supplied claims should still be read as company statements unless independently confirmed.
Sources
Update note: Last reviewed 2026-07-22. Next checkpoint: monitor official channels and the linked source record.
Sources
- Sandisk newsroom (primary); Business Wire; StorageNewsletter — reputable-press
Drafted with AI assistance from source briefs; reviewed for citation completeness and label accuracy.