Kioxia Announces Discontinuation of TSOP MLC NAND
2026-03-20
According to the notification requirements, customers must submit final purchase forecasts by May 30, 2026, with the last order deadline set for September 15, 2026. All shipments of related products will be permanently terminated on March 15, 2027.
Rationale for Discontinuation
The core driver behind Kioxia's discontinuation decision lies in the fact that the MLC architecture's unit production value can no longer satisfy the strategic imperatives of original manufacturers pursuing economies of scale and capital efficiency. Given the limited capacity of cleanroom facilities, MLC (which stores 2 bits per memory cell) delivers the lowest unit production value compared to current mainstream TLC (Triple-Level Cell) and QLC (Quad-Level Cell) architectures—a reality that contradicts the commercial logic of storage manufacturers.
Concurrently, Kioxia is accelerating its transformation from a traditional general-purpose storage supplier to an AI infrastructure storage provider. At the recent NVIDIA GTC 2026 conference, Kioxia announced the launch of its "Ultra-High IOPS SSD" (KIOXIA GP Series), specifically designed for GPUs in AI systems, and plans to mass-produce 332-layer stacked BiCS10 3D NAND flash memory in 2026 to produce next-generation storage chips for artificial intelligence data centers. The discontinuation of TSOP MLC products represents a strategic move by Kioxia to concentrate resources on high-value-added AI storage products.
Market Impact on MLC NAND
Kioxia's discontinuation decision, compounded by industry-wide capacity contraction, is triggering severe turbulence in the MLC NAND market. According to TrendForce research, as major international NAND Flash manufacturers exit or reduce MLC NAND Flash production, global MLC NAND Flash capacity is projected to decline by 41.7% year-over-year in 2026, exacerbating supply-demand imbalances.
Since late Q1 2025, the MLC NAND Flash market has witnessed pronounced panic buying and advance volume-locking behavior, with prices for certain models surging over 150%. Industry insiders anticipate prices may double again in Q2 2026. TrendForce further forecasts that TSOP package product prices will rise by 15% to 20% in the second half of 2026.
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