The Japanese memory maker is moving BiCS10 into volume production, launching a PCIe 6.0 data center eSSD and planning UFS 5.0 by year-end as larger Korean rivals press their scale advantage.
Kioxia is stepping up its AI storage push by moving its 10th-generation BiCS10 332-layer 3D NAND into mass production, launching the PCIe 6.0-supported CM10 data center eSSD and preparing UFS 5.0 embedded storage for AI mobile devices by the end of the year. The CM10 delivers up to 92% better sequential read performance than the previous generation, while the planned UFS 5.0 product is expected to roughly double transfer speeds versus UFS 4.1. The company had earlier drawn investor attention when its shares rose 6.6% after Kioxia and SanDisk formally introduced the BiCS10 3D QLC NAND chip, which they described as the highest-density 3D NAND product formally launched, with 37 Gb/mm² density, up to 4800 MT/s interface speed and SCA functionality aimed at high-capacity data center SSDs. TrendForce data showed Kioxia held 13.9% of the global NAND market in the first quarter, ranking third behind Samsung Electronics at 31.6% and SK Hynix at 17.6%. Samsung has also accelerated its roadmap with the PCIe 6.0 PM1763, UFS 5.0 plans and a roughly 430-layer 10th-generation V-NAND, underscoring intensifying competition in AI storage.