- SanDisk’s BiCS10 chip reaches 29 Gb per square millimeters in density
- The bit density was improved by 59% compared to the previous BiCS8 generation
- Interface speeds now reach 4.8 Gb/s, a 33% increase
SanDisk has confirmed that it is now testing BiCS10, its 10th generation 3D NAND flash chip, built with long-time manufacturing partner Kioxia.
The 1Tb TLC chip packs 332 memory layers into a die that reaches an areal bit density of over 29Gb per square millimetres, which the company calls industry leading.
That figure represents a 59% improvement in bit density compared to the previous BiCS8 generation currently in mass production.
A small chip built to scale to massive drives
The BiCS10 uses Sandisk’s CMOS directly bonded to an array architecture, paired with a new Toggle DDR6.0 interface that pushes data transfer rates up to 4.8Gb/s.
This marks a 33% improvement over the previous generation’s interface speed, according to SanDisk’s own announcement of the sampling milestone.
Power efficiency was also significantly improved, with input power consumption reduced by 10% and output power consumption reduced by 34% compared to the BiCS8.
SanDisk has already confirmed a broader roadmap built around this chip, targeting a 256TB SSD in 2026 and a 512TB drive in 2027.
The company has also teased an eventual 1PB data center drive, though it hasn’t committed to a specific year for that product.
These capacity jumps depend on QLC memory adoption, with SanDisk switching to QLC for most capacity-focused products by 2028.
The technology behind these future drives comes from a new 332-layer 3D NAND generation developed through the SanDisk and Kioxia partnership.
The chip is built as a 1Tb TLC die, with capacity increases coming through layer stacking and improved lateral scaling rather than adding more bits per bit. cell.
Instead of adding more bits in each memory cell, companies increase density through additional layers, improved layouts and new circuit designs.
The company reported that the new generation achieved a data transfer rate of 4.8 Gbps while reducing read energy consumption by 29% compared to previous designs.
These improvements are aimed at increasing capacity without sacrificing endurance and reliability as much as higher bit-per-cell methods could create.
Current prices show why 512TB drives don’t come cheap
Existing high-capacity enterprise drives provide the clearest indication of where 512 TB prices will ultimately land.
Solidigm’s 122.88TB D5-P5336 series currently retails between about $49,275 and $64,168, depending on the configuration and package options chosen.
Scaling of this price per terabyte for a 512TB drive suggests a price comfortably above $300,000 once SanDisk’s version hits the market in 2027.
Competition in this space remains intense, with Kioxia, Samsung, Solidigm and Micron all racing towards similar capacity milestones on comparable timelines.
Samsung has separately confirmed plans for a 512TB PCIe 6.0 drive around 2027, following a 256TB Gen 5 launch expected in 2026.
NAND supply itself remains tight, with flash contract prices expected to increase 70 to 75% quarter-on-quarter through mid-2026.
This shortage, largely driven by enterprise demand tied to generative AI infrastructure, is likely to keep the prices of these drives elevated long after the initial launch.
SanDisk’s BiCS10 sampling marks only the earliest technical step toward that 2027 goal, with mass production and finished drives still several years from wide availability.
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