Tokyo-based Kioxia, a memory chipmaker, is not in talks with SK Hynix on joint production, chief executive Hiroo Ota said.

He said any tie-up would face antitrust hurdles and be difficult to reconcile with Kioxia’s jointly owned manufacturing facilities with SanDisk.

Ota also said Kioxia is trying to avoid further steep price increases, warning that higher costs could curb long-term AI investment demand. He added that another 70% quarter-on-quarter jump in NAND flash memory prices seems unlikely.

The comments come as memory suppliers expand capacity to meet AI-driven demand.

Kioxia and SanDisk plan to spend more than 5 trillion yen (US$32.4 billion) to expand production at their jointly owned facilities in northern and central Japan.

SK Hynix plans a 54 trillion won (US$40 billion) expansion of its chipmaking facilities in South Korea.

🔗 Source: Bloomberg

Recent Kioxia developments