‘Kioxia warns customers about 3d-nand shortages from April due to pollution’

Flash memory manufacturer Kioxia is said to have warned customers that shortages will arise in its deliveries of 3D Nand memory from April. That announcement would follow news that some of Kioxia and Western Digital’s flash production failed due to contaminated material.

Kioxia did not report the extent of shortages that could arise from April, based on DigiTimes’ report based on its sources within the electronics industry. The site writes that SSD manufacturer Adata is not yet concerned about its deliveries, because the flash memory of several parties decreases. The maker of SSD controllers Phison also calls it unlikely that its deliveries will be negatively affected. This company refers to its long-term contracts with Kioxia regarding deliveries.

On its site, Kioxia reports little more than that it is “taking the necessary steps to restore the facilities to normal operational status as soon as possible” and that it is doing everything it can to minimize the impact on customers. Much is still unclear about the problems and the impact on the flash memory market.

On Thursday, joint venture parties Western Digital and Kioxia reported exabytes of flash memory had been lost to chemical contamination at its Yokkaichi and Kitakami factories. According to market researcher TrendForce, the prices of SSDs and eMMC memory will rise because of the problems. Western Digital and Kioxia are responsible for 32.5 percent of global nandflash production, and the incident is said to impact 13 percent of Q1’s production. The news comes as Kioxia celebrates the 35th anniversary of nandflash.

The Kioxia nand factory in Yokkaichi ., Japan