TOKYO, April 1, 2026 – Kioxia Corporation (formerly Toshiba Memory Corporation), a global leader in flash memory and storage solutions, has officially issued a comprehensive End-of-Life (EOL) notification to customers worldwide, outlining the planned discontinuation of its legacy 2D NAND flash memory and third-generation BiCS FLASH™ 3D NAND products. The strategic move, effective immediately, underscores the company’s accelerated shift towards high-density, next-generation 3D NAND technologies to meet the explosive demand driven by artificial intelligence (AI), data centers, and advanced consumer electronics.

Official Notice Details & Affected Product Scope

On March 31, 2026, Kioxia released the formal EOL announcement, which covers an extensive range of mature NAND products:

• Legacy Floating Gate 2D NAND: All products based on 32nm, 24nm, and 15nm process nodes, including SLC (Single-Level Cell), MLC (Multi-Level Cell), and TLC (Triple-Level Cell) architectures.
• Third-Generation BiCS FLASH 3D NAND (BiCS3): The entire portfolio of 64-layer and 96-layer stacked 3D NAND, initially launched between 2017 and 2018.
• All Packaging Formats: The discontinuation includes bare wafers, BGA, TSOP, eMMC, UFS, and standard SD card packages.

This is not an isolated decision. Kioxia had previously signaled its retreat from older technologies on March 16, 2026, with a specific EOL notice for low-capacity MLC NAND in TSOP packages. The latest announcement completes the phase-out of the company’s entire legacy NAND technology platform.

Critical Timeline for Customers

Kioxia has established a clear, industry-standard transition schedule to minimize disruption for global customers:

• Last Time Buy (LTB) Order Deadline: September 30, 2026 – No new orders for the affected products will be accepted after this date.
• Last Time Ship (LTS) Deadline: December 31, 2028 – All final shipments of these legacy products must be completed by this date.
• Post-2028 Status: From 2029 onwards, Kioxia will completely cease production, sales, and support for all 2D NAND and BiCS3 3D NAND products.

The company strongly advises all customers to “immediately contact their Kioxia sales representatives to discuss migration plans and qualified alternative solutions”.

Strategic Rationale: AI-Driven Shift to High-Value Manufacturing

The decision to retire these technologies is rooted in fundamental market and technological shifts:

1. Technological Obsolescence: BiCS3 (64-96 layers) is significantly outperformed by Kioxia’s current cutting-edge 218-layer BiCS8 and upcoming 332-layer BiCS10 technologies. The legacy 3D NAND offers approximately 40% lower density, 30% higher power consumption, and 25% higher cost per bit compared to the latest generations.
2. Economic Prioritization: The gross margin for legacy 2D and early 3D NAND is substantially lower than advanced TLC/QLC 3D NAND. Kioxia is reallocating its valuable cleanroom capacity and capital expenditure to high-margin products optimized for AI servers and high-performance SSDs.
3. Market Demand Collapse: Traditional 2D NAND and BiCS3 have seen minimal design wins in new products since 2025. The market has overwhelmingly transitioned to higher-density 3D NAND for consumer electronics, while industrial and embedded sectors are increasingly adopting newer, more reliable 3D NAND alternatives.

Industry Impact & Market Implications

Kioxia’s exit from the 2D NAND market is a landmark event, as the company was one of the last major manufacturers still producing these chips on a large scale. This move will likely accelerate the global phase-out of planar NAND technology, which was first commercialized by Toshiba (Kioxia’s predecessor) in 1987.

Concurrently, the industry is witnessing a race to the highest stacking layers. Kioxia’s competitors, including Samsung, Micron, and SK Hynix, are all executing similar strategies, phasing out older technologies to focus on 200+ layer 3D NAND. This collective shift is expected to tighten supply for legacy components in the industrial, automotive, and medical sectors, where long product lifecycles often require sustained support for older chip designs.

Kioxia’s Future Focus

Kioxia stated that the resources freed up by this transition will be fully dedicated to the mass production of its advanced BiCS FLASH 8th and 9th-generation 3D NAND, and the accelerated development of the 10th-generation (BiCS10) 332-layer technology. These next-generation chips are designed to deliver the ultra-high capacity, performance, and efficiency required for the AI and big data era.

About Kioxia CorporationKioxia is a world leader in memory solutions, dedicated to the development, production and sale of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). Originally established as Toshiba Memory Corporation, the company pioneered flash memory and NAND technology.

This article is based on official announcements and industry reports as of April 3, 2026. For the most detailed and up-to-date information, please refer directly to Kioxia’s official customer notifications and product lifecycle documents.