Memory chip companies Kioxia and Sandisk plan to spend more than $31bn across their Japanese manufacturing operations through 2032, with the programme subject to continued government support. The Kioxia Sandisk Japan investment is aimed at expanding infrastructure at the two companies’ Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants, adding production capacity and sustaining stable supply as demand for advanced flash memory rises alongside the growth of artificial intelligence.
Kitakami facility at the centre of the new spending
A significant portion of the outlay is earmarked for Kitakami. Reuters reports that a new memory chip production facility will be built at the Kitakami plant, backed by an investment of 1.8 trillion yen ($11.30 billion). Kioxia is already manufacturing 10th-generation BiCS Flash memory at the site, developed jointly with Sandisk, making Kitakami central to both companies’ near-term technology roadmap.
The broader spending plan covers infrastructure development, related technology, and production capacity across both Yokkaichi and Kitakami. The companies said the outlay is designed to support output growth over multiple years and to keep supply stable as demand accelerates.
A partnership built over more than 25 years
The Kioxia Sandisk Japan investment builds on a manufacturing partnership that has run for more than 25 years. That collaboration has already generated more than $50bn of combined investment in Japan, according to the companies’ joint statement. In January, the two extended their joint venture framework at Yokkaichi through December 2034.
The Yokkaichi site has deep roots. It was established in 1992 as a semiconductor memory manufacturing base and began operations in 1993 with DRAM production. NAND flash output followed in 1999. Then in 2002, Toshiba’s memory business moved FlashVision, its NAND flash joint venture with Sandisk, from Virginia to Yokkaichi, cementing the plant as the core of their collaboration. The complex has since expanded through multiple fabrication facilities, including 300mm wafer lines, and became a mass-production base for 3D flash memory in 2016.
Reuters also notes that the growth of AI has fuelled a turnaround for Kioxia, which was once seen as a symbol of Japan’s chipmaking struggles. The company’s fortunes have shifted as demand for high-capacity, high-performance storage has climbed with the spread of AI infrastructure and data-intensive workloads.
What the chief executives said
Kioxia president and CEO Hiroo Ota said the deal reinforces the companies’ long-standing ties. ‘This joint investment further strengthens our longstanding partnership with Sandisk and underscores Kioxia’s strong commitment to contributing to the advancement of an AI-driven society,’ he said. ‘Kioxia will continue to meet growing demand for high-capacity, high-performance, and power-efficient flash memory, which is essential to the growth of an AI-driven society.’
Sandisk chairman and CEO David Goeckeler framed the commitment in terms of both customer requirements and geopolitical context. ‘For decades, Sandisk and Kioxia have jointly developed world-class NAND flash memory technology,’ he said. ‘In line with our business strategy and financial guidance, these planned investments will ensure our ability to support our customer’s increasing demands for our technology, while providing new economic opportunities for the communities we operate in and serving as a premier example of US-Japan economic collaboration.’
Aligning with Japanese industrial policy
The announcement arrives as governments in major economies press to expand domestic semiconductor manufacturing and secure supply chains for advanced chips and memory. The companies said their Kioxia Sandisk Japan investment aligns with Japanese economic policy priorities aimed at strengthening advanced semiconductor production and global competitiveness.
Japan has made chipmaking a strategic priority in recent years, and announcements of this scale from established players fit within a broader push to ensure that domestic facilities remain at the technology frontier rather than ceding ground to rivals in other regions. For Kioxia, which went public on the Tokyo Stock Exchange and has staked its recovery on AI-driven demand for NAND flash, the planned spending represents a substantial bet that the market trajectory will hold through the end of the decade.
The first new capacity funded under the programme is expected to take shape at Kitakami, with 1.8 trillion yen ($11.30 billion) committed to the new facility there, setting a clear early priority for where the bulk of near-term construction activity will be concentrated.
