There is speculation that NAND flash, which was expected to fall in price, may see its price rise due to the shutdown of Japanese factories.

Market research firm TrendForce reported on the 10th that NAND flash factories operated by Western Digital and Kioxia have halted operations due to contamination of raw materials.

The outbreak occurred at two production facilities in Yokkaichi and Kitakami, Japan, and a return to normal production schedule has not yet been determined.

Kioxia said that there is no problem with shipments as it has 3D NAND flash in stock, but there is a possibility that production will be affected, and that 2D NAND flash memory has not been affected.

TrendForce estimates that this incident will reduce NAND flash memory production by 6.5 exabytes (6.5 billion GB).

This represents 13% of the first quarter of 2022 and 3% of total production for the year.

Western Digital and Kioxia ranked 2nd and 4th in the global NAND market in the third quarter of last year, with a market share of 13.2% and 19.3%, respectively, so it is expected that this will have an impact on prices.

TrendForce originally expected NAND flash prices to drop 5-10% in the second quarter of 2022, but said that this contamination incident could actually lead to a 5-10% surge.