TOKYO—Two factories making flash-memory chips have been hit by manufacturing stoppages since late January over a contamination subject, an issue prone to have an effect on the already troubled semiconductor provide chain.
The factories are operated by Japan’s Kioxia Holdings Corp. in a partnership with San Jose, Calif.-based
Western Digital Corp.
WDC 4.03%
The NAND flash-memory chips they make go into many merchandise together with smartphones, computer systems and servers.
The 2 firms stated Thursday Japan time that some supplies utilized in making the chips suffered from unidentified contamination at factories within the Japanese cities of Yokkaichi and Kitakami. The issue impacts a complicated type of chip generally known as three-dimensional flash reminiscence, Kioxia stated. It stated it hoped to convey operations again to regular as quickly as attainable however didn’t give a particular goal.
Western Digital stated the issue was prone to trigger a scarcity of no less than 6.5 exabytes in flash storage, equal to about 100 million of the 64 gigabyte flash reminiscence playing cards usually used for digital-camera storage.
Taiwan-based analysis agency TrendForce stated the shortfall represented 13% of the businesses’ anticipated output within the first quarter of this 12 months.
Neither firm supplied an in depth clarification of the issue or its trigger. They didn’t say whether or not there have been any issues with merchandise already shipped.
Western Digital and Kioxia mixed held a 32.5% share of the marketplace for NAND flash reminiscence chips within the third quarter of final 12 months, in line with TrendForce.
Reminiscence chips haven’t just lately confronted the type of shortages affecting different forms of chips equivalent to those who handle energy provide. TrendForce had forecast that NAND flash-memory chip costs would fall within the first quarter of this 12 months, but it surely stated the issues in Japan would possibly now push up costs 5% to 10% within the second quarter.
Two of the world’s largest memory-chip makers,
Samsung Electronics Co.
and
Micron Know-how Inc.,
bumped into issues in China in late December when the native authorities of the area the place they function imposed motion restrictions to counter Covid-19. The restrictions have been lifted in late January.
Western Digital and Kioxia have been in talks final 12 months to merge, however the talks stalled, The Wall Road Journal reported.
Write to Yang Jie at jie.yang@wsj.com
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