Afternoon update 5:05 PM ET

Memory Report — 2026-07-12

the Kioxia/SanDisk 332-layer BiCS10 NAND milestone and JV extension to 2034, the new US DRAM price-fixing lawsuit against the three majors, SK Hynix's 100 trillion won M17/P&T7 investment, and the Micron-GM/Ford automotive supply deals. These are distinct from the SK Hynix listing, Micron Hiroshima, CXMT July 16 IPO, and Q3 pricing bands already published.

The NAND technology story from Kioxia/SanDisk is the freshest structural development, so I'll lead there.

Kioxia and SanDisk put the NAND supply story on a new axis this week, starting production of the industry's densest 3D flash even as the shortage that governs the market shows no sign of loosening. Kioxia and Sandisk officially kicked off production of their 10th-generation 3D flash memory, known as BiCS Flash, at the Fab2 facility of the Kitakami Plant in Iwate Prefecture, Japan, with a production start of July 3, 2026. The new generation packs 332 memory layers into a single chip, delivers interface speeds of 4.8 Gb/s, a 33% jump over previous generations, and slashes power consumption. These are 1 Tbit chips formatted in TLC mode intended for building enterprise and data center SSDs. The design is unapologetically aimed at the AI buildout: the BiCS10 NAND is set to address density and performance-sensitive data center applications and promises to surpass Samsung's latest V10-class 3D NAND in storage density, explicitly aimed at data center-grade storage where bit density and performance matter more than cost. The two partners locked in the runway to keep building it, having extended their joint venture framework through December 2034, strengthening a partnership that has supported NAND development for more than 25 years. The competitive read is that no one is standing still on layers: SK Hynix has 321 layers in its ninth-generation 3D NAND, also using a triple string stack design, while Samsung has reached 400 with its tenth-generation V NAND, calling it Cell-on-Periphery architecture, and Micron is at the 276-layer level.

The legal overhang sharpened at the same time. In late June, Samsung, SK hynix, and Micron were sued in the U.S. by 14 consumers and three small PC assembly and distribution firms over allegations of coordinated supply cuts that pushed memory prices up nearly 700% in four years. The novel angle is the AI pivot itself: the latest case's key difference from previous DRAM legal cases is the plaintiffs' focus on the HBM transition and whether it can serve as direct evidence of coordinated supply reductions. The suppliers have a ready defense in their own checkbooks. Chosun Biz notes surging AI server demand provides a legitimate explanation for rising prices, allowing the companies to argue market dynamics rather than coordination drove the increase, and recent capacity expansion plans by Micron in Hiroshima, SK hynix in Yongin, and Samsung further strengthen that argument, as companies intentionally restricting supply would have little reason to invest heavily in expanding production. Both Korean makers have responded, with Samsung dismissing the claims as unfounded and emphasizing full compliance with fair competition laws, while SK hynix said it is reviewing the lawsuit and will take appropriate action after completing its assessment. History is not on the plaintiffs' side: a similar 2018 class action alleging 2016 to 2018 collusion was ultimately dismissed by a federal district court in 2022 after judges concluded plaintiffs had not provided enough evidence to substantiate an agreement among the three memory makers.

Capacity commitments keep landing on the demand side of the argument. SK Hynix said it plans to invest 100 trillion won, about $64.37 billion, in South Korea, with construction of its M17 plant set to begin next year and operations targeted for the first half of 2029, allocating 80 trillion won to M17, which will produce NAND flash, and 20 trillion won to the P&T7 facility to expand advanced chip packaging and assembly. The pull extends well beyond data centers. General Motors and Micron formalized a long-term supply agreement covering memory and storage chips for automotive manufacturing, with GM securing supply of LPDRAM, NOR, and UFS NAND products. Ford and GM each signed supplier agreements with Micron this month to support next-generation vehicle production. The reason automakers are queuing now is blunt: demand from AI applications is absorbing significant volumes of memory chips, placing automotive suppliers and OEMs, especially those with smaller volumes, at the back of the queue.

Watch the NAND side closely from here, where the enterprise SSD pull is doing the heavy lifting: NAND sales jumped 40.7% to a record $25.8 billion in the latest month, driven by AI storage demand, as UBS raised its DRAM price forecast to rise 32% and

July 12th, 2026

Memory Report — 2026-07-12

Sources