Kioxia will cease production of flat 2‑D NAND after four decades by 2028

Kioxia is discontinuing the production of 2D and early 3D NAND

*The company Kioxia has announced a complete abandonment of planar NAND memory and the first generations of 3D‑NAND BiCS‑3.*

What exactly will be discontinued
Technology Cell type Production period Planar (2D) NAND, floating gate SLC32 nm – 2009 year. Planar NAND, 24 nm MLC2010–?Planar NAND, 15 nm MLC/TLC2014–?3D‑NAND BiCS‑3 (64‑layer)–~2017 year.
*All major formats—from raw wafers to finished solutions (BGA, TSOP, eMMC, UFS, SD cards)—will be discontinued.*

Phase-out plan
Stage Date Last order for component procurement 30 September 2026. Final delivery to customers 31 December 2028.
After December 2028 the listed products will no longer be available, marking the end of planar NAND and early BiCS‑3 in favor of more modern 3D‑NAND technologies.

Why it matters
* The end of the planar memory era – the first mass‑produced NAND memory appeared at Toshiba factories in 1987. Now, after 41 years, its manufacturer Kioxia is ending production.

* Current applications – obsolete types of NAND are still used in automotive systems, consumer appliances, industrial and specialized data storage devices with long service life.

* Potential AI demand – the growth of the artificial‑intelligence market makes it economically unviable to maintain 2D‑NAND production.

What this means for the industry
As Tom’s Hardware notes, Kioxia’s final cessation of 2D‑NAND manufacturing will signal the end of planar NAND memory overall. This event underscores the industry's shift toward more efficient and higher‑capacity 3D technologies, and signals the retirement of outdated technological platforms.