Western Digital Reaffirms Commitment to Invest in NAND Flash

Western Digital Corp. commented on its commitment to the success of the three NAND flash-memory joint ventures (the JVs) that Western Digital’s SanDisk subsidiaries operate with Toshiba Corporation.

Western Digital stated:
Western Digital is steadfast in its commitment to the success of the JVs. We have been in constructive dialogue with Toshiba over several weeks to come to mutually acceptable terms around our planned investment in the JVs, specifically in production equipment to be used at the new fab currently under construction in Yokkaichi, Fab 6. Those discussions are ongoing.

The JV operations are governed by agreements entered into by both partners. The agreements set out a framework for any investment by the partners in NAND manufacturing capacity – such as the investment in equipment for Fab 6. The agreements give us priority to participate in joint investments in Fab 6 equipment through the JVs, and that is exactly what we intend to do.

Our board of directors has authorized investments for our share of initial Fab 6 equipment. We remain committed to making continued significant investments in Yokkaichi and the surrounding communities to support the JVs and preserve Yokkaichi as the world’s centerpiece of innovation in memory technology development and manufacturing.

The company also noted that, on Aug. 2, 2017, the California Court of Appeal First Appellate District denied Toshiba’s petition to stay the temporary restraining order (TRO) that had been granted in SanDisk’s favor by the Superior Court on July 11, 2017. After a full briefing on the matter, the California Court of Appeal denied Toshiba’s request to stay the TRO prohibiting Toshiba’s lockout. The court’s ruling dissolved the temporary stay of the TRO, which prohibits Toshiba from preventing certain employees from accessing shared databases and servers, and from refusing to ship certain engineering wafers and samples to Western Digital in Milpitas, CA.

SanDisk is confident that it will succeed in its claims in arbitration in the ICC International Court of Arbitration.