According to a Blocks & Files report published Friday 30 Oct 2026, Samsung almost reported its first-ever ₩200 trillion quarterly revenues in its third 2026 quarter, with revenues of ₩195.3 trillion ($145.5 billion), up 121.8 percent Y/Y, and an operating profit of ₩107.4 trillion ($80 billion), making Samsung Electronics the world's first tech company to exceed ₩100 trillion ($74.5 billion) in quarterly operating profit. The report attributes this to soaring AI demand for HBM, DRAM and NAND enabling high prices for its semiconductor technology. The DS (Device Solutions) semiconductor business accounted for 72 percent of Samsung Electronics' revenues in the quarter, at ₩147 trillion ($109.6 billion), up 15 percent Q/Q; within that, memory at ₩140.7 trillion ($104.8 billion) accounted for 95.7 percent, achieved by ramping up HBM4 sales and meeting demand for server SSDs. Samsung said strong demand momentum for servers led to higher market prices across all applications. Competitor SK hynix reported revenues of ₩104 trillion ($78.9 billion) in its third 2026 quarter, with a ₩39.8 trillion (c$30 billion) profit, less revenue and profit than the directly comparable Samsung DS division. Samsung says investments are planned for new fabs and other infrastructure to meet strong AI and HPC demand, and it intends to further increase HBM, server DRAM, and SSD sales, specifically increasing supply of high-speed server DDR5 product and QLC SSDs. Samsung expects AI infrastructure capital expenditure to reach a historic level in 2027, greater than this year, and states that 'AI-driven demand will far exceed the industry supply in comparison with 2026.' These are reported results and company outlook, not achieved future outcomes.
According to RT NEWS, AI demand is giving NAND suppliers more leverage over Apple. The report also mentions that Apple's past hardball tactics reportedly drove a Kioxia executive to shoot his old iPod with a rifle, and refers back to Cupertino's once-notorious hardball playbook. The source provides no specific price figures, dates, or forecasts, and gives no further details on this change in supplier leverage.
NANDApple, KioxiaTrendForce Official (Market Data)Inventory Shift
According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple, once one of the most powerful buyers in the NAND flash market, is losing some of its negotiating leverage as AI-driven demand gives memory suppliers greater pricing power. Meta, Microsoft, and Amazon have signed long-term supply agreements with Kioxia this year at higher prices, strengthening the chipmaker's negotiating position. Separately, South Korean outlet Economy Tribune reports that Apple has reportedly turned to a long-term NAND supply agreement, with market watchers identifying Kioxia as the likely partner; the terms remain undisclosed and this is a reported plan. The report adds that Apple may also pursue long-term agreements with Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, and Micron to secure future LPDDR5X and LPDDR6 supplies. According to TrendForce, memory's share of the 256GB iPhone Pro's bill of materials rose from around 10% a year earlier to 34% in 3Q26 and could exceed 40% in 1H27; TrendForce also estimates the iPhone 18 Pro's total BOM cost could rise 38% YoY, potentially forcing Apple to sacrifice margins to maintain shipments.
NAND flashLPDDR5XLPDDR6Apple, Kioxia and 5 totalTrendForcePrice Movement
Related manufacturers
Apple, Kioxia, Samsung Electronics, SK hynix, Micron
Kioxia has introduced its LD4 Series of solid-state drives (SSDs), combining the E1.L form factor with eighth-generation BiCS FLASH QLC NAND memory. Designed for high-density 1U servers, the drives offer capacities of 15.36 TB and 30.72 TB, with an architecture validated to support up to 122.88 TB. The report is aimed at hyperscale data centre readers.
On Oct. 28, SK hynix reported consolidated revenue of 104.62 trillion won for the third quarter of this year, exceeding 100 trillion won in quarterly revenue for the first time, with operating profit of 83.33 trillion won; the figures represented year-on-year increases of 327.9% and 632.1% respectively, and quarter-on-quarter increases of 31.9% and 37.6%, both slightly exceeding market consensus estimates. Operating margin reached 79.7%, up 3.5 percentage points from the previous quarter; net profit totaled 39.78 trillion won, up 215.7% from a year earlier but down 57.7% from the preceding quarter. The company attributed its DRAM performance to increased shipments of fourth-generation high-bandwidth memory (HBM4) and expanded sales of DDR5 memory for servers; the NAND business grew on increased sales of 321-layer enterprise SSDs (eSSDs) and greater focus on high-value-added data center products. SK hynix expanded long-term supply agreements (LTAs) securing contracts covering more than 50% of its total production capacity for both 2027 and 2028, has signed LTAs with 14 major customers including large global cloud service providers (CSPs), and is discussing extending contract durations beyond the typical five-year term. The company expects the memory supply shortage to persist through 2030, citing increasing technical complexity in advanced processes and the time required to build new facilities as sustaining a market structure in which demand exceeds supply. In the fourth quarter, it plans to raise the share of its sixth-generation 10-nanometer-class 1c process in conventional DRAM production and expand sales of DDR5 and LPDDR5-based SOCAMM modules for AI servers; in NAND, it aims to lift its flagship 321-layer products to more than half of domestic production capacity. To meet surging HBM demand, it plans to maximize capacity at its Cheongju M15X facility by the end of the year and expand HBM4 production, expecting HBM4 to become its mainstay product in the fourth quarter, surpassing HBM3E in shipment volume and revenue. Investment spending is expected to increase significantly next year, including full-scale operations starting at its first Yongin fab. The company also plans shareholder returns totaling approximately 100 trillion won, including more than 30 trillion won in cash dividends for fiscal 2026 and a total of 60 trillion won in buybacks and cancellations (including the 40 trillion won announced in August), with a commitment to return more than 50% of free cash flow. On Oct. 28 the board approved a third-quarter cash dividend of 14 trillion won and 20 trillion won of share repurchases, of which 10 trillion won will be canceled; the remaining ~10 trillion won is for employee compensation and excluded from shareholder returns. The third-quarter dividend is 20,000 won per share, comprising a 10,000-won dividend reflecting improved earnings and a 10,000-won special dividend sharing gains from its Kioxia investment.
SK hynix CEO Kwak Noh-jung joined the company's earnings conference call for the first time since taking office, on Oct. 28 at SK hynix's third-quarter 2026 earnings call, to outline its shareholder return policy; his appearance was seen as an effort to restore market confidence following shareholder opposition to the proposed IPO of Solidigm and a sharp decline in SK hynix's share price. Kwak said that after comprehensively considering financial market volatility and the correction in semiconductor industry share prices, the company decided to suspend its review of a Solidigm IPO; SK hynix had disclosed on Oct. 23 that it suspended consideration of both a pre-IPO investment round and an IPO for Solidigm, amid concerns that a separate listing could undermine shareholder value at the parent company through a duplicate listing. Kwak also announced plans to distribute returns from the Kioxia investment through a special dividend: SK hynix decided to distribute approximately 7 trillion won of its Kioxia investment gains as an initial special dividend in the third quarter, equivalent to 10,000 won per share, with the remainder to be included in the year-end dividend after final investment returns for this year are determined; the total amount to be returned through special dividends has yet to be finalized. Industry observers estimate the profit from the fund investment at approximately 20 trillion won (SK hynix joined a Bain Capital-led consortium in 2018 and invested a total of 395 billion yen, approximately 3.9 trillion won at the time, in Kioxia, then known as Toshiba Memory, through fund contributions and purchases of convertible bonds, fully recovering its investment in June when Bain Capital sold its stake in Kioxia). Including an additional dividend of 10,000 won per share reflecting improved operating performance, the company set its third-quarter dividend at 20,000 won per share, totaling approximately 14 trillion won. Including the third-quarter dividend, SK hynix plans to return approximately 100 trillion won to shareholders for the current fiscal year, comprising more than 30 trillion won in cash dividends and more than 60 trillion won in share repurchases and cancellations; first- and second-quarter dividends totaled approximately 265.8 billion won and 273.3 billion won respectively, about 539.1 billion won combined, and after deducting first-half dividends and the approximately 14 trillion won third-quarter dividend from the annual cash dividend target, additional fourth-quarter dividends are estimated to exceed 15 trillion won. The planned repurchases of more than 60 trillion won include the 40 trillion won program announced in August, which was completed last week with shares expected to be canceled soon; at its meeting on Oct. 28, the board approved an additional 20 trillion won in share repurchases, of which 10 trillion won will be used for shareholder returns with all purchased shares to be canceled, while the remaining approximately 10 trillion won will be used for employee compensation (excluded from the annual shareholder return total); based on the annual target, the company is expected to announce at least another 10 trillion won in share repurchases and cancellations during the fourth quarter. Additionally, at the end of the third quarter SK hynix held 114.5 trillion won in cash and cash equivalents with 15.8 trillion won in borrowings; net cash stood at 98.7 trillion won, up 29.3 trillion won from the previous quarter, moving closer to the 100 trillion won net cash financial stability target presented at its annual shareholders' meeting in March.
SK Hynix reported Q3 2026 revenue up 328% Y/Y to ₩104 trillion ($78.9 billion), surpassing ₩100 trillion for the first time, with net income up 216% to ₩39.8 trillion (c$30 billion), an operating margin of 80 percent, and a net cash position of ₩98.7 trillion ($74 billion), effectively debt-free. The company abandoned the US IPO of its Solidigm subsidiary and discontinued its review, citing careful consideration of recent financial market conditions and other factors; the IPO had been intended to raise external capital for expanding Solidigm's production facilities. SK Hynix said HBM4 is becoming its mainstream product as of this quarter and should overtake HBM3E in volume and revenue next quarter; it has 14 LTAs (Long-Term buying/supply Agreements) covering more than half of its memory capacity for 2027 and 2028, and it sees memory demand exceeding supply through to 2030. Its spending decisions include returning most of its Kioxia share gain to shareholders, with ₩100 trillion ($75.4 billion) going to shareholders this year; ramping the M15X fab's output to maximum capacity by the end of the year to increase HBM4 production; raising the proportion of its 321-layer NAND process to more than half of its domestic production capacity in the fourth quarter to increase high-performance, high-capacity eSSD supply; and rising production output in 2027 as the Yongin Phase 1 plant enters full-scale operation. Paying for a US fab for Solidigm remains unsolved, with the company still able to use about another $30 billion, per the source.
On October 28, 2026, SK hynix announced its third-quarter 2026 results: Q3 revenues of 104.6155 trillion won, operating profit of 83.3338 trillion won (80% operating margin) and net profit of 39.7756 trillion won (38% net margin), all-time-high quarterly results in both revenue and operating profit, with quarterly revenue surpassing 100 trillion won for the first time; revenue and operating profit rose 32% and 38% from the previous quarter, respectively (Q2 2026: revenue of 79.3187 trillion won, operating profit of 60.5426 trillion won), revenue up 328% year-over-year (3Q25: 24,448.9 billion KRW), operating profit up 632% YoY, and net income down 58% QoQ and up 216% YoY. The company attributed the results to rising prices of key products on growing demand for AI memory and expanded sales of HBM4 and high-value-added server products. It expects HBM4 to surpass HBM3E in both shipment volume and revenue in the fourth quarter and become a mainstream product (a forecast, not an actual result), and projects that the structure in which demand exceeds supply will persist through 2030 (company projection). The company plans to ramp up M15X to maximum capacity by the end of the year to increase HBM4 production and to raise the ratio of its 321-layer process to more than half of its domestic production capacity in the fourth quarter; it has signed LTAs with 14 major customers including leading global cloud service providers, with secured LTA volume corresponding to more than 50% of total production capacity for 2027 and 2028. The company announced shareholder returns totaling approximately 100 trillion won for fiscal year 2026 (comprising cash dividends of 30 trillion won or more and share repurchases and cancellations of 60 trillion won or more, including the 40 trillion won announced in August, which was completed last week); the Board resolved on a third-quarter cash dividend of 14 trillion won and a 20 trillion won share repurchase, with a quarterly dividend of 20,000 won per share (a 10,000-won dividend on improved earnings and a 10,000-won special dividend sharing Kioxia investment gains), and investment is expected to increase significantly next year with Yongin Phase 1 entering full-scale operation.
VDURA CEO Ken Claffey published a blog titled "Long Live the Short King. Now Look One Tier Down" on October 27, 2026, arguing that the SemiAnalysis realization that HBM bandwidth limitations cramp HBM capacity rises beyond 4-hi stacks also applies to NVMe SSDs used in KV Cache tiering, where write bandwidth is more important than capacity. The blog states that HBM 4/4e stacks range from 4-hi to 12-hi in capacity, but the 2,048 pin count is static, so bandwidth is the same regardless of capacity; a PCIe Gen5 x4 NVMe drive gets roughly 14 GB/s read bandwidth whether it is 7.68 TB or 61.44 TB. Citing Kioxia's CD9P PCIe Gen5 TLC SSD as an example, he points out eight times the capacity with identical write bandwidth and nine percent less read bandwidth. The blog also notes SSD terabytes cost 14x disk drive TBs, supplies a formula for the number of SSDs needed, N = R ÷ (d × E), where N is the number of drives, R is the required bandwidth, d is what one SSD delivers, and E is the fraction of d the architecture actually gets through to a client, and outlines a 5-step SSD buying guide: start with bandwidth in both directions, count devices not terabytes, take the smallest drive that gets you to N, check what capacity came along, and put the rest in a hard disk drive capacity tier. He stresses that the fall from flash to disk performance is orders of magnitude, so the capacity tier must be built for throughput, not dollars per terabyte alone. The blog mentions that VDURA's parallel file system with built-in S3 support can ingest data from the SSD tier and scales performance as capacity ramps up.
At an event this week, Micron announced that its next-generation 3D NAND (G11), which it plans to enter mass production in 2H 2027, is set to offer three significant advantages: doubling storage density (approximately twice the bit density of G9, with 3D TLC going from 21 Gb/mm² to 42 Gb/mm²), increasing I/O performance by up to 50% versus the company's current-generation NAND memory (interface speed from 3,600 MT/s to 5,400 MT/s), and reducing data transfer energy consumption per bit by more than 25%. G11 will adopt wafer-on-wafer bonding, manufacturing the NAND array on a new 3D NAND node and the peripheral circuits and I/O on a logic process before bonding them together, and will transition to more than 400 NAND layers; Micron has not disclosed the exact number of active wordline layers or memory decks. Micron executive Scott DeBoer described G11 as the world's most advanced NAND, ramping in the second half of next year. Micron also expects to disclose more G11 technical details in 2027 and, beyond G11, is developing high-mobility materials and denser cell architectures to continue XYZ scaling; specific architectural details, density targets, or production schedules for post-G11 generations have not been disclosed. These are the company's stated plans and expectations; mass production has not yet occurred.
3D NANDG11 3D NANDMicronTom's HardwareCapacity Change
On Friday 23 October 2026, SK hynix said it will halt its review of potential pre-IPO and IPO options for Solidigm, meaning there will be no Solidigm IPO on the US stock market. SK hynix had explored various funding options, including a potential IPO, to finance a new fab in the US to meet growing AI memory demand, with a Solidigm US fab estimated to cost $15 to $30 billion. The company said that while an IPO was expected to ease investment burdens and expand capacity for shareholder returns, the review was discontinued in light of market conditions and share price trends; it also said financial market volatility has increased, contributing to a broader correction in semiconductor stocks. Reports said Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley had been identified as lead underwriters, but that has come to naught. A contributing factor was concerns by South Korean SK hynix stockholders that a Solidigm IPO would dilute their shareholdings, making them less valuable. Solidigm currently gets the NAND for its SSDs manufactured at its Dalian plant in China, which produces 192-layer 3D NAND; reports say SK hynix has been authorized to install 240-layer NAND equipment at Dalian Fab 2, with equipping of the second Dalian plant restricted by US technology export restrictions aimed at preventing China from accessing the latest semiconductor manufacturing technology. SK hynix said the need to invest in Solidigm's growth remains unchanged and alternatives to enhance shareholder value will continue to be explored. A Solidigm IPO idea was reported in September, which would have emulated parent SK hynix's own US Nasdaq market entry in July using American Depositary Shares.
At a technology and product webinar held on October 21 on its Investor Relations website, Micron announced it is skipping a planned NAND generation, accelerating its 3D NAND technology roadmap to provide additional die capacity, speed and energy efficiency faster. According to Blocks & Files, published Thursday 22 Oct 2026 at 15:48 UTC, Micron is currently shipping G9, its ninth generation with 276 layers; the first product using this tech, the 2650 client SSD, launched in July 2024. President and Chief Technology and Products Officer Scott DeBoer said Micron will go from Gen 9 directly to Gen 11, describing the memory as optimized for the AI products of the future. Compared to G9, G11 has twice the bit density, up to 1.5x higher I/O speed and needs 25 percent less energy to transfer a bit; it is based on wafer-on-wafer bonding technology, will exceed 400 layers, and will ramp in the second half of next year, with more specifics promised next year closer to launch. The publication's bootnote notes that Gen 8 (planned 300+ layers, branded G10 externally) was abandoned in Oct 2026, with Gen 9 (planned 400+ layers) branded G11 externally in Oct 2026. DeBoer also outlined future product directions possibly using G11: a high-IOPS SLC-based, small-block AI-class NAND (in the 25–100 million IOPS area) and a high-bandwidth AI-class NAND with TSV-connected stacked layers placed near the accelerator, with next-generation SSDs holding up to 512 TB. Additionally, per BNP Paribas analyst Karl Ackerman, Micron's HBM4 36GB 12-high entered high-volume manufacturing in March 2026, HBM4E is currently sampling with key customers, with targets of HBM4E HVM in 2027, HBM5 in 2028, HBM5E in 2029 and HBM6 in 2030, plus newly announced vHBM and vEIM lines targeted for volume production in 2028. As to the cause, Micron says the skip is intended to provide additional die capacity, speed and energy efficiency faster, with G11 optimized for future AI products; the publication separately offers its own opinion that the generation skipping is marketing-based and a response to Samsung, SK hynix and Sandisk/Kioxia generation naming, which is media commentary rather than a Micron statement.
3D NANDNANDSSDMicronBlocks & FilesEOL/Discontinuation
TrendForce notes that Micron plans to begin mass producing its 1-delta (1δ) nm process in 2027, which is set to succeed its current mainstream 1-gamma (1γ) nm process. Beyond this transition, Micron intends to continue scaling its 6F² architecture before moving directly to 3D DRAM, bypassing the intermediate 4F² architecture; in contrast, South Korean and Chinese DRAM manufacturers still plan to adopt 4F² architecture, highlighting a growing divergence in process technology roadmaps among major suppliers. Micron is also developing memory solutions optimized for AI solutions, including vHBM and vEIM, to compete with SK hynix's 3D HBM and Samsung's zHBM. In NAND flash, Micron is preparing to ramp up production of its G11 generation in 2H27; by incorporating wafer bonding and stacking more than 400 layers, G11 is expected to deliver twice the bit density of G9, alongside a targeted 1.5-fold improvement in I/O speed. TrendForce believes these advances will enable Micron to close the technology gap with Kioxia and YMTC—both early adopters of hybrid bonding architectures—and strengthen its competitive position as NAND performance becomes increasingly critical to an AI-driven market. All of these remain plans/expectations, not yet realized mass production.
1-delta nm DRAM processvHBMvEIMMicronTrendForce Official (Market Data)Capacity Change
According to the source, Kioxia is prioritising proprietary NAND flash technology and customer-specific development over aggressive capacity expansion, seeking to capitalise on rising AI storage demand while reducing exposure to memory market volatility. The title additionally states that Kioxia targets higher-value AI storage with an Nvidia partnership and advanced NAND technology. This describes a company strategy/prioritisation; no capacity figures, timelines, or realized expansion or reduction results are given.
CXMT detailed its 4F² DRAM architecture roadmap, targeting DDR5 RDIMMs by end-2026, while its global DRAM market share rose to 9.5% in 2Q26. The 4F² tech reduces cell area by 33%, placing CXMT roughly two years ahead of SK hynix and Samsung. Bearish for global DRAM prices due to intensified competition and potential supply expansion.
DRAMDDR5LPDDR5CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies), SK hynix and 3 totalTrendForceCapacity Change
Related manufacturers
CXMT (ChangXin Memory Technologies), SK hynix, Samsung
According to Blocks & Files, published Tuesday 13 Oct 2026, Kioxia has made a direct liquid cooling version of its PCIe gen 5 CM9 datacenter SSD, the CM9-DLC, so customers can use the drives inside a hot rack chassis without thermal throttling. The CM9-DLC products have cold-plate, direct liquid cooling support and also support air-cooling, with a liquid-cooled metal enclosure touching the top or both sides of the device, in the E3.S form factor. Maulik Sompura, Senior Staff Director, Product Management, SSD business unit at Kioxia America, said the rise of AI infrastructure is driving a fundamental shift in data center design toward higher power densities and advanced cooling technologies. Deploying liquid-cooled CM9-DLC drives will involve the system builder matching a host server's cold-plate/manifold system and coolant loop, and undergoing qualification; Kioxia does not provide information such as mounting, thermal contact surface or specific cold-plate compatibility, saying only that the drives "support cold-plate-enabled server designs," and system builders should ensure their server chassis complies with standards like the SFF-TA-1008 rev. 3.0a specification. The liquid-cooled CM9 drive performance numbers are the same as for the air-cooled CM9. The CM9 Series drives are currently sampling to select customers and will be showcased at the 2026 OCP Global Summit, taking place October 12 – 15 in San Jose, Calif. Kioxia gave its CM10 series of SSDs liquid-cooling support earlier this year.
CM9-DLC datacenter SSDPCIe gen 5 CM9 datacenter SSDCM9 Series SSDsKioxiaBlocks & Files
On Friday, 9 October 2026, Kioxia introduced its LD4-series SSDs in an E1.L form factor (318.75 mm length × 38.4 mm height × 9.5 mm thick) designed for high-density storage deployments in hyperscale data centers, with capacities up to 122.88TB. The new drives use proven BiCS8 3D QLC NAND and target read-intensive workloads such as AI data repositories and object storage. They rely on Kioxia's proprietary platform complying with the NVMe 2.0e specification, feature a single-port configuration, and meet select requirements of the OCP Datacenter NVMe SSD specification 2.6; although listed as PCIe 5.0 compliant, the drives operate at PCIe 4.0 x4 speeds of up to 16 GT/s per lane, providing a theoretical maximum bandwidth of approximately 7.88 GB/s in each direction. Kioxia is currently sampling 15.36 TB and 30.72 TB LD4 drives to select customers and has validated an architecture capable of supporting 122.88 TB drives, but it has not disclosed when such drives will become available or when the series will enter mass production. The company also did not disclose sequential read/write speeds, random read/write IOPS, latency, DWPD/TBW endurance ratings, or power consumption. The drives will be demonstrated at the OCP Global Summit in San Jose in mid-October.
Kioxia has launched its first E1.L SSD, the LD4 Series, utilizing BiCS FLASH Gen 8 QLC flash. Targeted at hyperscale data centers and read-intensive applications, this product aims to increase storage density in 1U servers.
Kioxia announced a 2x speed increase for its Optane-class GP series SSDs using Gen 3 XL-FLASH technology, achieving over 20 million IOPS. The company also unveiled the LD4, a PCIe 5 E1.L QLC SSD with 15.36 and 30.72 TB capacities. This launch targets AI infrastructure demands but currently shows no immediate impact on spot prices.
TrendForce reports contract prices for NOR Flash and SLC NAND rose over 100% in H1 2026, with SLC NAND expected to climb another 120%-170% in H2. Morgan Stanley and JPMorgan warn of severe supply shortages as capacity is reallocated to higher-margin chips.