Kioxia Corporation, the world leader in memory solutions, today announced it will begin construction of a state-of-the-art fabrication facility (Fab7) at Yokkaichi Plant in Mie Prefecture, Japan to expand production of its proprietary 3D Flash memory BiCS FLASH. The construction of Kioxia Corporation's Fab7 facility is expected to commence in the spring of 2021.

Due to technological innovation, the amount of data being generated, stored and used around the world has increased exponentially. Furthermore, the flash memory market expects further growth driven by cloud services, 5G, IoT, AI and automated driving. As a result, the production of cutting-edge products in Kioxia Corporation's Fab7 facility will continue to meet the increasing demand for memory around the world.

The Fab7 facility will be built on the north side of Yokkaichi Plant, where land development is underway. In order to secure optimal production of advanced flash memory products, the construction of Fab7 will be divided into two phases, with the first phase of construction scheduled to be completed by the spring of 2022. Kioxia plans to fund the capital investments for the construction of Fab7 from its operating cash flow.

Consistent with Kioxia's successful 20-year partnership with Western Digital, the two companies regularly collaborate on facility operation. Accordingly, Kioxia and Western Digital expect to continue their joint venture investments for the Fab7 facility.

The Fab7 facility will have an earthquake absorbing structure and an environmentally friendly design that includes the latest energy saving manufacturing equipment. Located in Yokkaichi Plant, which offers the world's largest flash memory production capacity, the Fab7 facility will further boost Kioxia's production capacity by introducing an advanced manufacturing system that utilizes AI.

Under its mission of uplifting the world with memory, Kioxia is focused on cultivating the new era of memory. Kioxia remains committed to enhancing its position in the memory industry through capital investment and research and development that reflect market trends.