Kioxia chief executive Hiroo Ohta announced plans to rein in runaway memory price increases to protect future AI industry spending. The Japanese chipmaker saw average NAND flash prices surge 70% in a single quarter as datacenter demand exploded. But Ohta warned that even the largest tech titans operate with finite budgets.
Ohta took the top job earlier this year and immediately instructed sales teams to curb aggressive price hikes for datacenter operators. He pointed out that memory prices have jumped enough already and pushing them higher risks cooling enthusiasm for AI infrastructure investments. While future increases remain possible, the primary goal is holding prices steady at their current levels.
He also made the company position clear regarding global market share:
We will not blindly fight for market share just for the sake of market share.
Instead of battling Chinese competitors in the low margin consumer market, Kioxia is shifting its full weight behind high profit AI datacenters. The company wants to focus strictly on delivering enterprise hardware rather than competing on sheer volume in budget sectors.
On the production front, Kioxia has started shipping its tenth generation 332 layer 3D flash memory. These chips offer faster data transfer rates and higher efficiency for demanding server workloads. The company is also working with Nanya Technology to build alternative chips that use metal oxide materials instead of standard silicon to replace traditional DRAM.
Ohta dismissed speculation about joint manufacturing talks with SK Hynix, pointing to antitrust concerns and the practical difficulties of coordinating capacity with SanDisk. Kioxia and SanDisk are committing over 5 trillion yen, roughly $33 billion, to expand production capacity across shared facilities in northern and central Japan.
Demand remains heavy across major technology vendors, with some enterprise clients negotiating contracts running through 2030. Kioxia is close to locking in 50% of its total shipments under these multi year supply agreements, providing predictable revenue.
The market rally pushed Kioxia shares up 18 times compared to last year, briefly making it Japan most valuable public company ahead of SoftBank and Toyota. The stock has since pulled back slightly as investors weigh broader concerns around debt levels, industry oversupply, and aggressive AI competition.
