The race to build faster, denser, and more efficient flash memory has never been hotter — and Kioxia is stepping on the gas. According to new reporting from Nikkei, the company is accelerating production of its next-generation BiCS9 and BiCS10 3D NAND technologies, with its most advanced 332-layer BiCS10 now expected to enter production in 2026, much earlier than originally planned.

Why the rush? One word: demand. AI data centers, hyperscalers, cloud giants, and enterprise workloads are consuming storage at unprecedented levels, pushing memory manufacturers to move faster than ever.

Two New NAND Generations — With Different Missions

Kioxia's upcoming lineup includes two major families:

BiCS9 — Built for Performance and Efficiency

BiCS9 uses a 218-layer 3D NAND structure and is paired with the company's latest Toggle DDR 6.0 interface delivering speeds up to 4.8 GT/s. This generation is designed to balance high performance with energy efficiency, making it ideal for:

It's powerful, fast, and cost-effective — perfect for high-volume consumer and client devices.

BiCS10 — The Heavyweight for AI and Hyperscale

This is where things get exciting.

BiCS10 takes a leap to a 332-layer 3D NAND stack, pushing density much higher than BiCS9 while delivering major gains in latency, efficiency, and power consumption. Beyond raw storage gains, BiCS10 is engineered specifically for data-intensive environments like:

The improvements aren't theoretical either. BiCS10 promises:

In other words, it processes data faster, wastes less power, and packs far more storage into the same space — exactly what modern AI workloads need.

Different Tech, Different Factories

Kioxia and Sandisk are also splitting production locations:

This approach allows Kioxia to keep BiCS9 affordable while dedicating its most advanced fab capabilities to BiCS10 — a smart economic balance.

The Secret Behind the Speed: CBA and Toggle DDR 6.0

Both BiCS9 and BiCS10 rely on CMOS Directly Bonded to Array (CBA) — an advanced architecture where the memory array and control logic sit on separate layers and are bonded together. This reduces latency, improves performance, and streamlines manufacturing for very tall NAND stacks.

On top of that, both generations use:

Simply put, this isn't just more storage — it's smarter, faster storage.

BiCS9 vs BiCS10: Why Both Matter

Rather than replacing BiCS9 outright, BiCS10 will coexist alongside it. That's intentional.

Over time, once yields improve, BiCS10 could become cheaper to produce — but for now, keeping both options allows manufacturers and customers to choose performance levels that best match their needs.

A Push Driven by AI — and the Future

Kioxia's decision to accelerate production shows how quickly the market is evolving. AI workloads aren't slowing down. Neither is cloud growth. Memory demands will only keep rising.

Official confirmation hasn't yet been issued by Kioxia or Sandisk, so details could still change. But if the report holds true, 2026 may mark a huge milestone for next-generation NAND technology.

And given how much the future depends on fast, dense storage — the timing couldn't be better.