Tokyo-based Kioxia has started delivering samples of a next-generation,
high-storage-density 3D flash chip to AI data center operators as it competes
for share in the higher-margin data-center market, the company said on Friday.
The chip features a 332-layer stack and is aimed at improving storage density,
data throughput and energy efficiency for data-center SSDs. Production will be
ramped at a new facility in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, to increase capacity for
rising demand from AI service providers. Kioxia said it will also expand output
of lower-cost ninth-generation scalable-bit-cost chips alongside its
tenth-generation products.