Japanese chipmaker Kioxia and U.S.

Kyodo

Japanese chipmaker Kioxia Holdings and its U.S. peer Western Digital are in detailed talks about merging their operations, a move that could create a new memory chip company with a global share on par with its leading rivals, people familiar with the matter said Friday.

The two companies are considering setting up a joint venture to integrate their production and sales operations, and Kioxia may hold the larger stake in the new company, the sources said.

Their talks on business integration come as their earnings are under pressure due to a plunge in demand for NAND flash memory chips caused by slumping smartphone sales in the post-pandemic period. They already jointly operate plants in Iwate and Mie prefectures.

This could be due to a conflict with your ad-blocking or security software.

Please add japantimes.co.jp and piano.io to your list of allowed sites.

If this does not resolve the issue or you are unable to add the domains to your allowlist, please see this FAQ.

We humbly apologize for the inconvenience.

In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

With your current subscription plan you can comment on stories. However, before writing your first comment, please create a display name in the Profile section of your subscriber account page.

Your subscription plan doesn't allow commenting. To learn more see our FAQ