Kioxia & WDC to receive government subsidy for JV fab
Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corporation say that their joint venture, the Fab7 manufacturing facility at Yokkaichi Plant, has been approved to receive up to JPY 92.9 billion (USD 699.3 million) in subsidy from the Japanese government.
The subsidy will be granted under a designated government program aimed at facilitating corporate investment in semiconductor production facilities and securing stable production of semiconductors in Japan.
Kioxia and Western Digital say that they will continue to accelerate the development and production of cutting-edge flash memory at the Yokkaichi Plant.
“We appreciate the support of the Japanese government and will continue to produce cutting-edge flash memory which is indispensable for a digital society where cloud services, 5G communications, IoT, AI and automated driving are expanding. We are committed to further advancing the semiconductor industry and contributing to the development of the domestic and global economies,” says Nobuo Hayasaka, President and CEO of Kioxia, in a press release.
With construction of the first phase of Fab7 completed, the joint-venture manufacturing facility will enable initial production output in the fall of 2022. The facility will produce 3D flash memory including 112- and 162-layer and future nodes.
“We are pleased that the Japanese government recognizes the importance of memory and data storage technologies as they remain critical innovations in the semiconductor industry. We look forward to continuing to drive long-term success together with our strategic partner, Kioxia,” says David Goeckeler, CEO of Western Digital.
