Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corporation announced today that their joint venture production facilities at the Yokkaichi Factory and Kitakami Factory have been approved to receive up to 150 billion yen in subsidies, including facilities that will produce the latest generation of 3D flash memory based on innovative wafer bonding technology and future-generation advanced nodes. The subsidy will be issued under a government-designated plan aimed at promoting corporate investment in cutting-edge semiconductor production facilities and ensuring the stability of Japan's semiconductor production.
This is the second time that Kioxia and Western Digital’s joint venture production facility has received subsidies from the Japanese government. Previously, the joint venture production facility located in Yokkaichi has been approved to receive subsidies of up to 92.9 billion yen from the Japanese government in 2022.
With a joint venture partnership spanning more than 20 years, Kioxia and Western Digital will continue to strengthen cutting-edge flash memory development and production capabilities at the Yokkaichi and Kitakami factories in Japan. In addition, the two companies will also contribute to the development of semiconductor-related industries and talents.
"We are grateful for the Japanese government's support and will continue to produce cutting-edge flash memory. With this subsidy, we will continue to contribute to the advancement of the semiconductor industry and the development of the local and domestic economy." said David Goeckeler, CEO of Western Digital Corporation. "We are grateful to the Japanese government for its continued and strong commitment to our joint venture flash memory manufacturing facilities in Japan and our long record of innovation in the NAND flash memory industry. This support affirms the important role of advanced memory and data storage technology in solving diverse and growing data-driven applications."
Kioxia and Western Digital are the longest-running and most successful joint ventures in the semiconductor industry, jointly developing familiar products such as 3D flash memory.