Kioxia to Mass-Produce 332-Layer NAND Flash in 2026

According to a new report from Nikkei, Kioxia plans to begin mass production of its 10th-generation 332-layer NAND Flash in 2026, positioning the company to capture growing demand from AI-driven data centers.

The report indicates that Kioxia will leverage its Kitakami manufacturing campus in Iwate Prefecture, using the second wafer fab (K2), which entered operation in September, to produce this next-generation NAND node. Compared with the current 8th-generation 218-layer design, the upcoming 332-layer NAND will deliver a 59% increase in storage density per unit area, a 33% improvement in data-transfer speed, and lower power consumption — key performance gains for AI workloads that require faster throughput and higher energy efficiency.

Following the news, shares of Kioxia's partner SanDisk surged 6.11% on December 10, closing at USD 232.86.

Notably, Kioxia will not build a new fab for this transition. Instead, it will rely on the newly operational K2 facility, which already supports production of 218-layer 3D NAND using CBA (CMOS Direct Bonded to Array) technology and is designed to scale into future high-stacking NAND generations. As AI adoption accelerates and long-term NAND demand strengthens, the fab's output will be ramped gradually, with volume production expected in the first half of 2026.