Western Digital and Jiaoxia said that the material contamination problem will affect the production of 3D NAND flash memory

Western Digital and Kioxia have issued statements saying that some of the materials used in the manufacturing process have been contaminated, and since late January 2022, parts of the business of their factories in Yokkaichi and Kita-listed in Japan have been affected. The reason for speculation is that Components containing impurities are used in the specific production process of BiCS Flash, which will affect the production of 3D NAND flash memory.

Although the production of 3D NAND flash memory has encountered problems at this stage, Jiaoxia said that the shipment of 2D NAND flash memory is not expected to be affected by the event. Western Digital and Jiaxia together produce more NAND flash memory than any manufacturer in the industry, occupying more than one-third of the market share, and only Samsung is relatively close. In order to reduce the competition between the two sides in the market, the business strategies of the two companies are different, Western Digital focuses on selling its flash memory products, and Armor is more inclined to sell NAND flash cores to other manufacturers in bulk.

Previously, Samsung closed its factories due to the new crown epidemic, coupled with this Western Digital and Armored Man production material pollution incident, given that both sides accounted for more than half of the world's NAND flash production, it is likely to eventually lead to supply shortages and price fluctuations for products such as SSDs.