Kioxia Corporation and Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) announced today that their joint venture manufacturing facilities at Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants have been approved to receive an up to 150 billion yen subsidy, including facilities that will produce its latest generation of 3D flash memory based on the innovative wafer bonding technology and future generation advanced nodes. The subsidy will be granted under a designated government program aimed at facilitating corporate investment in cutting-edge semiconductor production facilities and securing stable production of semiconductors in Japan. This marks the second time that Kioxia’s and Western Digital’s joint venture manufacturing facilities are receiving this subsidy from the Japanese government. Previously, the joint venture manufacturing facility at Yokkaichi was approved to receive up to 92.9 billion yen subsidy from the Japanese government in 2022.

Leveraging an over 20-year joint venture partnership, Kioxia and Western Digital will continue to enhance the development and production capabilities of cutting-edge flash memory at the Yokkaichi and Kitakami plants in Japan. In addition, the two companies will contribute to the development of semiconductor-related industries and talent.

“We appreciate the support of the Japanese government and will continue to produce cutting-edge flash memory, which is indispensable for technologies that underpin the expanding digital transformation of society. With this subsidy, we will continue to contribute to the advancement of the semiconductor industry and the development of local and domestic economies,” said Nobuo Hayasaka, President and CEO of Kioxia.

David Goeckeler, CEO of Western Digital said, “We thank the Japanese government for their ongoing and unwavering commitment to our joint venture flash memory manufacturing facilities in Japan and our long track record of innovations in the NAND flash industry. This support recognizes the important role of advanced memory and data storage technologies in addressing a diverse and growing set of data-driven applications.”

Kioxia and Western Digital have the longest and most successful joint venture partnership in the semiconductor industry, creating category-defining products such as the 3D flash memory.