TOKYO, Aug 27 (Reuters) – Japan’s Kioxia and U.S.-based Sandisk said on Thursday they planned to invest more than $31 billion in Japan through 2032 to drive semiconductor technology and expand production capacity, as the AI boom boosts demand for memory chips.
The joint investment is contingent on “government support”, they said in a statement.
• As part of the six-year investment plan, a new memory chip production facility will be built at Kioxia’s Kitakami plant in northern Japan, with an investment of 1.8 trillion yen ($11.30 billion), Kioxia CEO Hiroo Ota said.
• The growth of AI has fuelled a turnaround for Kioxia, which was once seen as a symbol of Japan’s chipmaking struggles.
• Kioxia is manufacturing 10th-generation BiCS Flash memory, developed with Sandisk, at its Kitakami plant.
• Ota and Sandisk CEO David Goeckeler met with Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi on Thursday.
($1 = 159.3300 yen)
(Reporting by Kentaro Okasaka, Sam Nussey and Kiyoshi TakenakaEditing by Tomasz Janowski)
