Kioxia, previously Toshiba’s semiconductor division, is the world’s third-largest flash memory manufacturer, followed by Western Digital.
Memory chips are used in everyday devices such as smartphones and storage drives, as well as in industrial and medical equipment, but their prices are notoriously volatile. There have been long-running discussions between Western Digital and Kioxia about merging to form a firm that would compete at the top of the world’s memory chip market.
The South Korean firm “is not agreeing to the deal at this time in light of the overall impact on the value of the company’s investment in Kioxia”, SK Hynix’s chief financial officer Kim Woohyun said during an earnings call.“We will be making the decision for the sake of all stakeholders, not only the shareholders but also Kioxia,” he added.