Direct:
Kioxia (TYO: 285A) is pushing 332-layer BiCS10 NAND into volume just as the two suppliers that dominate the market step back from chasing the next node.
BiCS10 is a real generational jump. 332 layers, roughly 59% denser than the 218-layer BiCS8 at 29 Gb/mm², a 2Tb TLC die, and a 4.8 GT/s interface that runs about a third faster than the prior generation. Volume output is slated for Kioxia's fiscal 2026, the window from April 2026 through March 2027. That is where the “2027” framing comes from, even though tooling moved up into 2026. Production lands at the new Kitakami K2 fab in Iwate, and Kioxia with SanDisk (NASDAQ: SNDK) lifted combined capex 41% to $4.5 billion this year to feed it.
Samsung (KRX: 005930) has pushed its V10 node, targeting 430-plus layers, past its original 2025 plan, with large-scale spend unlikely before the first half of 2026. SK Hynix (KRX: 000660) is running a pilot line on its 300-layer-class part this year and does not reach full production until early 2027. Both are cutting NAND wafer starts in 2026, Samsung by about 4.5% and SK Hynix by 10%, and both are funneling capacity into HBM, where a dollar of investment earns more than it does in NAND.
Kioxia gets a timing advantage out of this. The layer-count leadership Samsung held for most of a decade is genuinely in play, because the two biggest makers decided NAND leadership is not worth the capital right now.
For consumer SSD buyers, this is not relief. Kioxia's 2026 output is already sold out, the company has said it will not simply sell to the highest bidder, and NAND contract prices still jumped 70-75% quarter over quarter in Q2. More bits are coming, but they are already committed, and almost none of that capacity is pointed at cheap retail drives.
Drafted with AI assistance against parallel reporting.
Sources:
- DigiTimes, “Kioxia targets 2027 BiCS 10 NAND production as Samsung, SK Hynix hold back investment” (May 25, 2026, paywalled stub: headline and deck only)
- Tom's Hardware, “Kioxia's next-gen 3D NAND production gets expedited to 2026 — high-capacity 332-layer BiCS10” (Dec 2025)
- TechTimes, “Kioxia NAND Flash Mass Production Accelerates: BiCS10 Target Puts Samsung and SK hynix on Edge” (May 24, 2026)
- TrendForce, “Kioxia Reportedly to Make 332-Layer 10th-Gen NAND at Kitakami in 2026, Repurposing Existing Fab” (Dec 12, 2025)
- Blocks & Files, “Samsung, SK hynix cut NAND wafer output to shore up margins” (Jan 20, 2026)
- Tom's Hardware, “Kioxia exec says the AI boom means the era of the cheap 1TB SSD is over” (2026)
- TrendForce, “Samsung, SK hynix Reportedly Projected to Post Record-High NAND Margins of 40-50% in 1H26” (Feb 4, 2026)
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