The storage industry in 2024 experienced a year of contrasting fortunes. AI data centers drove strong demand for HBM memory, while the consumer electronics market showed signs of weakness. However, in the long run, AI smartphones and AI PCs are raising higher demands for storage capacity and performance. The trend of consolidation and expansion among international storage giants is evident, and domestic storage companies are accelerating their IPOs, with continuous mergers and acquisitions, pushing the domestic storage industry to new heights. As we review 2024 and look ahead to 2025, we highlight the top 10 events in the storage industry of 2024.
1. Kioxia Goes Public
In December 2024, Kioxia officially listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. As one of the global leaders in NAND flash memory manufacturing, Kioxia separated from Toshiba in June 2018. Originally planning to enter the capital market in October this year, Kioxia postponed its IPO due to concerns over the semiconductor market recovery speed, only to announce a restart in early November. The company innovatively adopted Japan’s latest IPO process, greatly shortening the approval-to-listing timeline, enabling Kioxia to embrace the capital market more quickly.
Kioxia is currently the third-largest NAND flash memory manufacturer globally, holding a 15.1% market share in Q3 2024, second only to Samsung (35.2%) and SK hynix (20.6%).
With the rise of generative AI, the demand for enterprise SSDs, QLC NAND, and other products has seen explosive growth. This trend will provide significant development opportunities for NAND flash manufacturers like Kioxia.
2. SK hynix Restructures for AI Storage
SK hynix recently announced that its organizational restructuring and senior executive appointments for 2025 have been completed. This restructuring clearly shows that SK hynix is focusing its resources on AI storage products such as HBM and eSSD.
The new management framework, centered around a “C” series, aims to clarify responsibilities and streamline decision-making processes across core business departments. These departments have been reorganized into five key units, including the CMO department, focusing on AI infrastructure; the CTO Institute, dedicated to future technologies; the CDO department, responsible for development and operations; and the CPO department, focused on mass production management.
A new R&D headquarters has also been established, consolidating all storage product development resources, including DRAM, NAND, and solutions, to foster internal collaboration and advance next-generation AI memory products.
In talent development, SK hynix has promoted 33 new executives, primarily in key areas like next-generation semiconductor development. Around 70% of these executives have been assigned to core product areas like HBM and DRAM.
SK hynix’s CEO, Kwak Noh-Jung, stated, “Thanks to the joint efforts of our entire team, we have significantly enhanced our technological competitiveness in AI storage fields like HBM and eSSD, achieving remarkable growth. In the face of an ever-changing business environment, this restructuring and the appointments will help us better balance current operations with future development, further solidifying our leadership in AI memory.”
3. Micron Expands US Manufacturing Facility
On January 1, 2025, Micron announced plans to invest $2.17 billion to expand its semiconductor manufacturing facility in Manassas, Virginia, increasing its semiconductor production capacity in the U.S. The upgrade will enable the facility to produce DRAM memory for industrial, automotive, aerospace, and defense applications, and is expected to create 340 new jobs.
Micron did not specify how it would upgrade the wafer fab or how much additional manufacturing capacity would be added, but typically, the production of long-lifecycle DRAM for these industries is relatively small-scale.
Earlier, the U.S. Department of Commerce announced that it had provided Micron with $275 million in federal funding under the CHIPS and Science Act to upgrade its long-lifecycle DRAM fab in Manassas and move DRAM production for the automotive industry from Taiwan to the U.S.
Micron President and CEO, Sanjay Mehrotra, stated, “As the only memory manufacturer headquartered in the U.S., Micron is uniquely positioned to bring cutting-edge memory manufacturing to the U.S., strengthen the country’s technological leadership, and foster advanced innovation. We appreciate the continued support from Governor Glenn Youngkin and the state legislature as we work to produce long-lifecycle DRAM products in Virginia to meet the future memory needs of U.S. defense, aerospace, automotive, and industrial customers.”
4. Changjiang Electronics Acquires Shengdi Semiconductor
On March 4, 2024, Changjiang Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Changjiang Electronics Technology Management Co., Ltd., had agreed to acquire 80% of Shengdi Semiconductor (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. for $62.4 million from SANDISK CHINA LIMITED. The acquisition was completed on September 30, 2024.
Through this acquisition, Changjiang Electronics will gain Shengdi Semiconductor’s expertise and technology in advanced packaging and testing, further enhancing its technical strength and market competitiveness in this field.
Shengdi Semiconductor is a wholly-owned subsidiary of global storage giant Western Digital, specializing in the R&D, packaging, and testing of advanced NAND Flash memory products.
5. Aokang International Plans to Acquire Lianhe Storage
On December 23, Aokang International announced that it was planning to acquire shares of Lianhe Storage Technology (Jiangsu) Co., Ltd. through issuing shares or cash payments.
Founded in 2021, Lianhe Storage specializes in providing high-performance and highly reliable storage chips and solutions. The company is headquartered in Wuxi, Jiangsu, with R&D centers in Seoul, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. Its core team members come from leading storage companies and have extensive experience in storage chip R&D, process development, and sales.
Lianhe Storage’s main products include embedded storage chips like PPI Nand, SPI Nand, DRAM, LPDDR, MCP, etc., widely used in networking, wearable devices, industrial control, medical equipment, and IoT fields.
6. Lianyun Technology Goes Public
In November 2024, Lianyun Technology officially listed on the STAR Market. It was the first IPO project to pass after the new “National Ninth Measures” policy was introduced.
Lianyun Technology is a platform-based chip design company that provides data storage controllers, AIoT signal processing, and transmission chips. The company has built a complete chip R&D and industrialization platform, covering SoC chip architecture design, algorithm design, digital IP design, analog IP design, backend design, and system solution development.
In the first three quarters of 2024, Lianyun Technology achieved a revenue of 825 million RMB, a year-on-year growth of 20.31%, with a net profit of 73.18 million RMB.
7. Storage IPOs Accelerate
On December 17, Shenzhen-based storage company Jingsun Technology announced that it had completed its IPO counseling registration with the Shenzhen Securities Regulatory Bureau.
Founded in 2016, Jingsun Technology is a national high-tech enterprise that integrates design, R&D, testing, and sales of storage chips, including NAND Flash controllers, eMMC, DDR3/4, LPDDR4/4X, LPDDR5/5X, eMCP, SSD, memory modules, etc., covering consumer, industrial, and automotive-grade storage chips.
8. “Black Myth: Wukong” Boosts Storage
On August 20, 2024, the domestic 3A game Black Myth: Wukong launched globally and quickly became the top seller on platforms like Steam and WeGame. It dominated sales in 12 countries, including the U.S., Singapore, Thailand, Canada, and Brazil, with simultaneous online players peaking at over 1.4 million.
Black Myth: Wukong is an action RPG based on the classic Chinese novel Journey to the West. Due to its high-quality graphics, immersive scenes, and engaging storyline, the game has raised the bar for storage requirements, particularly for SSDs.
9. Domestic DDR5 Mass Production
According to South Korean media, Chinese DRAM manufacturer Changxin Memory Technology (CXMT) has successfully achieved mass production of DDR5 memory chips. Several DRAM module manufacturers have already begun selling DDR5 modules based on CXMT chips, indicating that DDR5 memory prices may continue to drop.
The emergence of domestic DDR5 memory represents a significant technological breakthrough and highlights China’s growing capacity for autonomous control over its storage technology.
10. Domestic HBM2e Chip Mass Production
On January 3, 2025, Shenzhen Vision Smart Storage Technology Co., Ltd. announced the mass production of its HBM2e chips. Vision Smart Storage, founded by teams from Micron and Elpida, has been a leader in HBM technology development, overcoming key technical bottlenecks like TSV and CoWoS to achieve domestic production of HBM2e.
Disclaimer:
- This channel does not make any representations or warranties regarding the availability, accuracy, timeliness, effectiveness, or completeness of any information posted. It hereby disclaims any liability or consequences arising from the use of the information.
- This channel is non-commercial and non-profit. The re-posted content does not signify endorsement of its views or responsibility for its authenticity. It does not intend to constitute any other guidance. This channel is not liable for any inaccuracies or errors in the re-posted or published information, directly or indirectly.
- Some data, materials, text, images, etc., used in this channel are sourced from the internet, and all reposts are duly credited to their sources. If you discover any work that infringes on your intellectual property rights or personal legal interests, please contact us, and we will promptly modify or remove it.