AI drives demand for NAND storage to increase 20% a year, Kioxia's stock price has tripled since it was listed in Japan last year

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Tokyo memory manufacturer Kioxia Holdings Corp. said it is confident that the market will continue to grow rapidly. As AI data center operators continue to expand, demand for NAND storage is expected to increase by about 20% per year. The company's executive vice president, Tomoharu Watanabe, said that Kioxia is using monthly investment decisions to ensure that the new plant's production capacity matches demand growth, and its NAND flash memory products have been widely used in smartphones, laptops, and high-speed data center memory modules.

Watanabe pointed out that the current strong demand mainly comes from the demand side for large-scale AI chips. Some customers are planning to replace servers deployed five or six years ago, and other customers have reported a shortage of hard drives. Since its listing in Tokyo in December 2024, Kioxia's stock price has tripled, and its market capitalization has kept pace with South Korea's domestic storage giants Samsung Electronics and SK Hynix, and has become a beneficiary of the AI infrastructure boom.

This week, the second Kioxia flash memory factory in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, was officially put into operation. Delivery of cutting-edge memory chips is scheduled to begin in the first half of next year. The company is speeding up investment in major chip factories in Kitakami City and Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture. The goal is to double memory production within five years from fiscal year 2024 (ending March 2025) to narrow the gap with Samsung and SK Hynix.

Global data center construction accelerated the rebound in memory chip prices to bottom and recover from a post-pandemic trough. The NAND market, which was previously dragged down by slowing demand for smartphones and PCs and excess inventory, is now showing signs of recovery.

Research firm TrendForce predicts that NAND flash memory prices will rise 5% to 10% in the fourth quarter of 2025 compared to the previous quarter.