YOKKAICHI, Japan & IRVINE, Calif. — (BUSINESS WIRE) — July 14, 2016 — Toshiba Corporation (Tokyo: 6502) and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) today celebrated the opening of the New Fab 2 semiconductor fabrication facility located in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan.
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Toshiba Corporation and Western Digital Corporation cleanroom in semiconductor fabrication facility located in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, Japan. (Photo: Business Wire)
Expanded use of flash memory in smartphones, SSDs, and other applications is driving continued growth of the global flash memory market. The New Fab 2 facility will support the conversion of the companies’ 2D NAND capacity to 3D flash memory, allowing realization of solutions offering higher densities and better device performance.
Construction of New Fab 2 began in September 2014. Following partial completion of the facility in October 2015, Toshiba and SanDisk (acquired in May 2016 by Western Digital Technologies Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Western Digital Corporation) worked together to implement leading-edge manufacturing capabilities for mass production of 3D flash memory, and first-phase production started in March of this year. The parties intend to further invest to expand production capacity over time, depending on market conditions.
In addition, Yokkaichi operations will leverage the site-wide integrated production system, which employs big data processing to analyze over 1.6 billion data points each day, to further improve manufacturing efficiency and the quality of 3D flash memory.
The parties are committed to working together to enhance the value they offer to customers and to continue innovation as market leaders.
Satoshi Tsunakawa, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation, said, “Advanced technologies underline our commitment to respond to continued demand as an innovator in flash memory. We are enhancing manufacturing efficiency and the quality of our world-class facility. Building on that, we also plan investments of as much as 860 billion yen by FY2018, in line with the market situation. Our commitment is firm, and we are confident that our joint venture with Western Digital will produce cost competitive next generation memories at Yokkaichi.”
Steve Milligan, Chief Executive Officer of Western Digital, said, “As a leader in non-volatile memory products and solutions, we are excited to be entering the 3D NAND era with our partner Toshiba. The New Fab 2 enables us to begin the conversion of our existing 2D NAND capacity to 3D NAND and continues our long-standing presence in Yokkaichi, Mie Prefecture, and Japan.”
Overview of the New Fab 2
Structure of building: 2-Story
steel frame concrete, five floors
Building area: Approximately
27,600m2
Start of construction: September 2014
Building
completion: July 2016
About Toshiba
Toshiba Corporation, a Fortune Global 500
company, channels world-class capabilities in advanced electronic and
electrical product and systems into three focus business fields: Energy
that sustains everyday life, that is cleaner and safer; Infrastructure
that sustains quality of life; and Storage that sustains the
advanced information society. Guided by the principles of The Basic
Commitment of the Toshiba Group, “Committed to People, Committed to the
Future”, Toshiba promotes global operations and is contributing to the
realization of a world where generations to come can live better lives.
Founded in Tokyo in 1875, today’s Toshiba is at the heart of a global
network of 550 consolidated companies employing 188,000 people
worldwide, with annual sales surpassing 5.6 trillion yen (US$50
billion). (As of March 31, 2016.)
To find out more about Toshiba,
visit
www.toshiba.co.jp/index.htm
About Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:
WDC) is an industry-leading provider of storage technologies and
solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience and
preserve data. The company addresses ever-changing market needs by
providing a full portfolio of compelling, high-quality storage solutions
with customer-focused innovation, high efficiency, flexibility and
speed. Our products are marketed under the HGST, SanDisk and WD brands
to OEMs, distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and
consumers. For more information, please visit
www.hgst.com,
www.wd.com,
and
www.sandisk.com.
Western Digital Forward-Looking Statements
This news release
contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements about
demands for 2D and 3D flash memory, intended use of New Fab 2, higher
capacity and performance, further investment in production capacity,
improvements in manufacturing efficiency, value enhancement, continued
innovation, market position and our continued strategic collaborations
and partnerships. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that may
cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate including, among
others: volatility in global economic conditions; business conditions
and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of competitive products and
pricing; market acceptance and cost of commodity materials and
specialized product components; actions by competitors; unexpected
advances in competing technologies; our development and introduction of
products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage
markets; risks associated with acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures;
difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and
uncertainties listed in the company’s filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission (the “SEC”), including the company’s Form 10-Q filed
with the SEC on May 9, 2016, as well as SanDisk’s Form 10-Q filed with
the SEC on May 2, 2016, to both of which your attention is directed. We
do not intend to update the information contained in this release.
