KIOXIA Announces First Enterprise NVMe SSD Built with 8th Generation BiCS FLASH TLC-Based Flash Memory Technology

KIOXIA America, Inc. today announced the development and prototype demonstration of its new KIOXIA CM9 Series PCIe^® 5.0 NVMe™ SSDs. These next-generation drives are the first enterprise SSDs built with KIOXIA’s 8^th generation BiCS FLASH™ TLC–based 3D flash memory¹, which incorporates CBA (CMOS directly Bonded to Array) technology – an architectural innovation that delivers significant advances in power efficiency, performance and density, while doubling available capacity² per flash device.

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As the demands of modern computing intensify, applications such as AI, machine learning, and high-performance computing require a sophisticated solid state storage infrastructure – requiring not only enterprise-class performance but also higher power efficiency to ensure scalability and manageable operational costs. Addressing these requirements is central to the design of the KIOXIA CM9 Series, which is purpose-built to support next-generation data center workloads.

At the core of the CM9 Series is KIOXIA’s 8^th generation BiCS FLASH, the company’s most advanced 3D flash memory to date. This technology employs a CBA-based architecture that significantly increases the NAND interface speed, enhances density and power efficiency and lowers latency – directly benefitting SSD performance.

KIOXIA CM9 Series drives deliver performance improvements of up to approximately 65% in random write, 55% in random read, and 95% in sequential write compared to the previous generation. In addition, performance-per-watt gains realized include 55% better sequential read and 75% better sequential write efficiency.

KIOXIA CM9 Series SSD highlights include (preliminary and subject to change):

• PCIe 5.0, NVMe 2.0, NVMe-MI™ 1.2c, and OCP Datacenter NVMe SSD 2.5 specification-compliant
• Dual-port support in 2.5-inch and E3.S SSD form factors
• Read-intensive (1 DWPD) and mixed-use (3 DWPD) endurances
• Sequential performance (128 kibibytes (KiB)/QD32) – 14.8 GB/s read and 11 GB/s write
• Random performance (4KiB) – 3,400 KIOPS (QD512) and 800 KIOPS (QD32)
• 2.5-inch capacities up to 61.44 terabytes (TB) and E3.S capacities up to 30.72 TB

“We are proud to integrate the latest BiCS FLASH 3D flash memory technology into our enterprise SSDs, bringing enhanced performance and power efficiency to AI-centric workloads,” said Neville Ichhaporia, senior vice president and general manager of the SSD business unit at KIOXIA America, Inc. “As AI models grow in complexity and scale, the need for storage solutions that can sustain high throughput and low latency, and allow for better thermal efficiency, becomes critical. With the addition of the CM9 Series, KIOXIA is enabling more efficient scaling of AI operations while helping to reduce power consumption and total cost of ownership across data center environments.”

KIOXIA CM9 Series SSDs are now sampling to select customers and will be showcased at Dell Technologies^TM World, taking place May 19 – 22 in Las Vegas.

For more information, please visit www.kioxia.com, and follow the company on X, formerly known as Twitter and LinkedIn^®.

About KIOXIA America, Inc.

KIOXIA America, Inc. is the U.S.-based subsidiary of KIOXIA Corporation, a leading worldwide supplier of flash memory and solid-state drives (SSDs). From the invention of flash memory to today’s breakthrough BiCS FLASH™ 3D technology, KIOXIA continues to pioneer innovative memory, SSD and software solutions that enrich people's lives and expand society's horizons. The company's innovative 3D flash memory technology, BiCS FLASH, is shaping the future of storage in high-density applications, including advanced smartphones, PCs, automotive systems, data centers and generative AI systems. For more information, please visit KIOXIA.com.

© 2025 KIOXIA America, Inc. All rights reserved. Information in this press release, including product pricing and specifications, content of services, and contact information is current and believed to be accurate on the date of the announcement, but is subject to change without prior notice. Technical and application information contained here is subject to the most recent applicable KIOXIA product specifications.

Notes:

1: As of May 15, 2025. Source: Kioxia Corporation.

2: Compared to the previous generation.

2.5-inch indicates the form factor of the SSD and not its physical size.

Read and write speed may vary depending on various factors such as host devices, software (drivers, OS etc.), and read/write conditions.

Performance is preliminary and subject to change without notice.

Definition of capacity: KIOXIA Corporation defines a kilobyte (KB) as 1,000 bytes, a megabyte (MB) as 1,000,000 bytes, a gigabyte (GB) as 1,000,000,000 bytes, a terabyte (TB) as 1,000,000,000,000 bytes, and a kibibyte (KiB) is 1,024 bytes. A computer operating system, however, reports storage capacity using powers of 2 for the definition of 1GB = 2^30 bytes = 1,073,741,824 bytes and 1TB = 2^40 bytes = 1,099,511,627,776 bytes and therefore shows less storage capacity. Available storage capacity (including examples of various media files) will vary based on file size, formatting, settings, software and operating system, and/or pre-installed software applications, or media content. Actual formatted capacity may vary.

IOPS: Input Output Per Second (or the number of I/O operations per second)

Dell Technologies, Dell, and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries.

NVMe and NVMe-MI are registered or unregistered trademarks of NVM Express, Inc. in the United States and other countries.

PCIe is a registered trademark of PCI-SIG.

LinkedIn is a trademark of LinkedIn Corporation and its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries.

Other company names, product names and service names may be trademarks of third-party companies.

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