Report: Toshiba/SanDisk commit to 5th NAND fab

Feb. 7, 2008 – Toshiba has agreed to build a ¥700B (US ~$6.58B) NAND flash fab in Kitakami, Iwate Prefecture, with part of the investment covered by its partner SanDisk, according to a report by the Asahi Shimbun. Mass production is slated for fiscal 2009.

Toshiba’s other main NAND flash facilities are at its Yokkaichi site, where four plants together have total output capacity of about 410,000 wafers/month (300mm), and the new fab is expected to add another 200,000+ WPM. The company originally wanted it to be in Yokkaichi as well but found difficulties securing new land, the paper noted, adding that Kitakami was chosen for Fab 5 over Kita (Kyushu) due to abundance of and accessibility to water and power.

Toshiba’s Fab 4 began operations last year and is expected to reach full production in 2009, the paper noted. The company has already said it is currently migrating Fab 4’s manufacturing to 43nm process technologies, with shipments expected in 2Q08.

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