Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corporation announced earlier this week that their joint manufacturing facilities at the Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants have been approved to receive a subsidy of up to ¥150 billion by the Japanese government. This support includes facilities that will produce the latest generation of 3D flash memory based on the innovative wafer-bonding technology and future generations of advanced nodes.
This grant will be awarded under a designated government program aimed at facilitating corporate investment in advanced semiconductor manufacturing facilities and ensuring stable semiconductor production in Japan. This marks the second time that Kioxia's and Western Digital's joint manufacturing facilities have received this support from the Japanese government. Earlier, the joint production facility in Yokkaichi was approved to receive a subsidy of up to ¥92.9 billion from the Japanese government in 2022.
With over 20 years of collaboration in the joint venture partnership, Kioxia and Western Digital will continue to strengthen the development and production capacity of advanced flash memory at the Yokkaichi and Kitakami facilities in Japan. In addition, the two companies will contribute to the development of semiconductor-related industries and talent.
Nobuo Hayasaka, president and CEO of Kioxia, said: "We greatly appreciate the support from the Japanese government and will continue to produce advanced flash memory, which is indispensable for technologies that support the growing digital transformation of society. With this support, we will continue to contribute to the development of the semiconductor industry and the development of local and domestic economies."
David Goeckeler, CEO of Western Digital, said: "We thank the Japanese government for their continued and unwavering commitment to our shared flash memory manufacturing facilities in Japan and our long experience of innovation in the NAND flash industry. This support recognizes the important role that advanced memory and data storage technologies play a role in accommodating a diverse and growing range of data-driven applications."