Toshiba will raise its investment in a new facility by 26 percent to boost output of advanced flash memory chips widely used in hi-tech gadgets. In a joint venture with US data storage card maker SanDisk Corp., Toshiba Corp. will raise spending to 270 billion yen (2.6 billion dollars) from its initial estimate of 200 billion yen.

A new plant facility has been established for NAND flash memory chips produciton, which are used in digital cameras, memory cards, MP3 music players and USB-compatible memory devices.

Toshiba will pay for the construction of the building while it and SanDisk, its strategic partner in the NAND flash field, will equally share the cost of equipping the new plant.

Production at the new facility will begin during the second half of the year to March 2006.