Major memory manufacturer Nanya Technology announced a groundbreaking private placement that, for the first time, will involve four major international companies, forming a notably strong lineup. The investors include NAND leaders Kioxia and Sandisk, SK Hynix's NAND subsidiary Solidigm, and networking giant Cisco Systems. Together, they will subscribe to approximately 352 million common shares.
This move highlights that, amid tight DRAM supply, pairing solid-state drive (SSD) controllers with DRAM has become essential. Securing supply priority is intended to ensure the establishment of long-term, in-depth cooperation.
According to the announcement, based on a subscription price of NT$223.90 (approx. US$7.02) per share, Nanya expects to raise roughly NT$78.72 billion. The funds will be used to invest in advanced memory manufacturing facilities and production equipment. Kioxia, Sandisk, Solidigm, and Cisco will hold stakes of 2%, 4%, 2%, and 2%, respectively.
Despite recent market chatter that DRAM spot prices have stabilized or slightly declined, the deal indicates that the industry recognizes that DRAM shortages remain unresolved and that there is a need for deeper binding relationships beyond long-term supply agreements. At the same time, the move is expected to enhance Nanya's influence within the memory sector and foster closer collaboration with global memory manufacturers and system companies.
Industry observers optimistically view the participation of global NAND manufacturers and major networking companies in this private placement as further underscoring the seller's market dynamics in the memory sector.
Securing supply amid shortages
Among the four participating companies, Kioxia, Sandisk, and Solidigm are primarily focused on NAND flash and SSD applications. Although NAND prices have been rising, producing SSD end products for enterprise storage, switches, routers, and TVs still requires controllers paired with DRAM as buffer memory. This indispensable component largely depends on the increasingly scarce DDR4 supply.
Kioxia, Sandisk, and Solidigm all lack sufficient DRAM capacity support. Even SK Hynix, Solidigm's parent company, is shifting capacity toward DDR5, making it unable to fully meet its own SSD pairing needs. Yet, SSDs must ensure DRAM is paired with controllers, and even as high-end enterprise SSD specifications are upgraded, DDR5 faces similar supply constraints.
Therefore, early investment in Nanya's private placement helps avoid future supply bottlenecks for enterprise SSDs and prevents being strangled by competitors like Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix, and Micron Technology.
Cisco's involvement reflects the urgent demand for DDR4 in networking applications. In the near term, mainstream applications will continue to rely heavily on DDR4, making it necessary to secure a stable supply in advance.
Confidence in long-term DRAM demand
Through participation in this private placement, the investing companies demonstrate strong confidence in long-term DRAM demand. Nanya plans to allocate the raised capital to facilities and production equipment for advanced memory manufacturing, in order to meet the growing demand driven by AI computing.
Nanya previously projected that DRAM prices would rise steadily through 2026, with the supply-demand imbalance expected to persist into the first half of 2027.
Article translated by Eifeh Strom and edited by Jack Wu
