Toshiba Memory To Rebrand As Kioxia
by Billy Tallis on July 18, 2019 8:00 AM ESTIn 2017, Toshiba was forced to sell off its flash memory business to stave off bankruptcy. The memory business was spun off as Toshiba Memory Corporation and sold for $18 billion to a consortium led by Bain Capital after a high-stakes bidding war. Toshiba Memory has continued to thrive as the number two manufacturer of NAND flash memory and a major player in the SSD market. Toshiba Memory has been laying the groundwork for an IPO that could happen as early as November of this year. Part of that preparation includes establishing a more independent identity form the Toshiba conglomerate that only retained about 40% ownership of the memory business.
To that end, Toshiba Memory will be rebranding as Kioxia at the beginning of October. Toshiba says the new name is a combination of kioku (Japanese for "memory") and axia (Greek for "value"). The announcement of the new name doesn't include any strategy shifts, only generic corporate platitudes. On the technology side, it's still business as usual save for recovering from the effects of a recent power outage at their fabs in Yokkaichi, Japan. On the financial side, details of their plans for an IPO are still largely unofficial and the timing may still be influenced by changing market conditions. When the Bain-led consortium acquired Toshiba Memory in 2017, the original plan was for an IPO to occur within three years, and it looks like they are on track to meet that deadline.
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Source: Toshiba
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baka_toroi - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Only Microsoft could produce a worse re-branding than this one.Cullinaire - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
This reminds me of the golf company Srixon. The Japanese have a knack for coming up with some wild names that's for sure.DanNeely - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
I wonder if it sounds as awful in Japanese as it does in English?londedoganet - Thursday, July 18, 2019 - link
Counterpoint to “Japanese can’t name”: Qimonda was German.rockphone - Monday, July 22, 2019 - link
ShibaTo is a better name.They are in the Tokyo / Shiba Prefecture area. That is how the name ToShiba came to being.
dropme - Monday, July 22, 2019 - link
Will there be a future for them? A company with shittier name making cheap nands that burdens signaficant amount of debts. I don't think so.if they re-entered DRAM market, things will be different but as of now, they're completely hopeless. Soon there will be another bail out for them.
Billy Tallis - Wednesday, July 24, 2019 - link
Toshiba Memory/Kioxia is pretty financially healthy now that it's separate from the rest of Toshiba and not burdened with their debt. They're the number 2 flash memory manufacturer, and if you add in their partner Western Digital/SanDisk, it's a very close second to Samsung. None of Micron, Hynix or Intel are in a position to overtake Toshiba in the near future.