KIOXIA at CES 2026: BiCS Flash, SSDs, Automotive UFS, and AI Storage

KIOXIA's BiCS Flash Technology Evolution

• 💡 KIOXIA's BiCS 8 generation utilizes CMOS bonded array (CBA) technology, stacking memory wafers separately from logic wafers to optimize processing temperatures and improve transistor performance.
• 🚀 Future generations, BiCS 9 and 10, will introduce the Separate Command Address (SCA) protocol, which separates command and address information from the data bus to enhance efficiency and enable higher frequencies.
• 📈 BiCS 10 will also feature a 332-layer design for NAND flash, significantly increasing density.
• 📦 A remarkable achievement is the 32-die stack in a single package, enabling up to 8 terabytes per package, a substantial increase from previous generations.

Advanced SSDs and AI Storage Solutions

• 🎯 KIOXIA showcased LC9 SSDs utilizing the 8TB packages, with a demonstration of a petabyte of flash storage across multiple drives.
• 🧠 For AI, KIOXIA developed Isaac software to enhance retrieval augmented generation (RAG) by allowing vector databases to be stored on SSDs instead of DRAM, mitigating DRAM limitations.
• ⚡ The BG7 series are DRAMless client SSDs available in capacities up to 2TB, utilizing host memory buffer (HBM) technology.
• 📊 Enterprise SSDs are color-coded: green for client, blue for enterprise (highest performance), and orange for data center class.
• 📦 New EDSFF form factors (E3.L, E3.S, E1.S) are designed specifically for flash memory, offering improved heat dissipation and density compared to traditional 2.5-inch drives.

Automotive Storage Solutions

• 🚗 KIOXIA is advancing automotive UFS (Universal Flash Storage), moving from UFS 3.1 to the new UFS 4.1 standard.
• ⚡ UFS 4.1 doubles the interface speed from 3.1 to approximately 4 GB/sec, significantly improving data retrieval and write performance for automotive systems like cockpits and IVI.
• 📱 While UFS originated in smartphones, it's now a major storage application in automotive and is globally adopted, with UFS 4.1 expected in vehicles within a year or two.

Q&A and Future Outlook

• ❓ Discussions covered heat dissipation in M.2 SSDs, with EDSFF cases acting as heat sinks for higher power applications.
• 📱 UFS 4.1 is also being adopted in smartphones, with performance similar to 4.0 but with updated features.
• 💾 The maximum capacity for the smallest BG7 client SSD is 2 terabytes.
• 📦 KIOXIA does not have a specific name for their 32-die NAND package beyond its description.