Toshiba Memory takes over Lite-On’s SSD activities

Toshiba Memory has acquired the SSD division of the Taiwanese company Lite-On for an amount of 165 million dollars, converted 149 million euros. Toshiba Memory wants to strengthen its position in the SSD market with the acquisition.

Toshiba Memory expects the acquisition to be completed in the first half of 2020. Details about the acquisition, other than the acquisition amount of $ 165 million, are not disclosed by the companies. Lite-On is a small player in the SSD market. The company already used Toshiba flash memory for its SSDs, often in combination with Phison controllers.

In 2017, Lite-On invested $45 million in its storage division, among other things to set up a factory in Suzhou, China, mainly for SSDs. The Tsinghua Unigroup took a 55 percent share in that division that year, to serve the Chinese market as a joint venture. It is not known what impact the acquisition by Toshiba Memory will have on that joint venture.

Toshiba Memory, which will continue under the name Kioxia Holdings Corporation from October 1, competes in the SSD market with, among others, Samsung, Sandisk/WD, Kingston, Intel and Micron. Toshiba has a market share of 9.1 percent, according to Statista. Samsung has a market share of 29.6 percent, Sandisk/WD 17.1 percent and Kingston 11.5 percent. Lite-On serves 3.6 percent of the market. Toshiba acquired OCZ in 2013.