SanDisk has announced it has started sampling its BiCS10 chip, the tenth generation of 3D NAND flash memory developed jointly with long-time manufacturing partner Kioxia. This 1Tb TLC chip achieves an area bit density above 29Gb per square millimeter, a 59% improvement over the previous BiCS8 generation. The Toggle DDR6.0 interface pushes data transfer speeds up to 4.8Gb/s, a 33% increase, while input power consumption drops 10% and output power consumption falls 34% compared to BiCS8.
SanDisk roadmap targets 256TB SSDs in 2026 and 512TB in 2027
The new chip is the foundation for future extreme-capacity SSDs. SanDisk has confirmed a broader roadmap including a 256TB drive by 2026 and a 512TB drive by 2027. The company has also teased a 1PB data center drive, though it has not committed to a specific year. These capacity jumps depend on QLC memory adoption, with SanDisk shifting toward QLC for most capacity-focused products by 2028. The technology comes from a new 332-layer 3D NAND generation developed through the SanDisk and Kioxia partnership. Instead of adding more bits per cell, the companies increased density through additional layers, improved layouts, and new circuit designs. The chip achieved a 4.8Gbps data transfer rate while reducing read energy consumption by 29% compared with previous designs.
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Current enterprise drive pricing hints at prohibitive cost for 512TB models
To understand how much the future 512TB SSDs will cost, look at today's high-capacity enterprise drives. For instance, Solidigm's 122.88TB D5-P5336 series currently retails between roughly $49,275 and $64,168, depending on configuration. Scaling that per-terabyte cost toward a 512TB drive suggests a price comfortably beyond $300,000 once SanDisk's version reaches market in 2027. Competition is intense, with Kioxia, Samsung, Solidigm, and Micron all racing toward similar capacity milestones. Samsung has separately confirmed plans for a 512TB PCIe 6.0 drive around 2027, following a 256TB Gen 5 launch expected in 2026. Moreover, NAND supply remains tight, with flash contract prices projected to rise 70 to 75% quarter over quarter heading into mid-2026. That shortage, driven largely by enterprise demand tied to generative AI infrastructure, will likely keep pricing on these drives elevated well beyond initial launch.
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For more on emerging storage technologies, check out the article on Pentagon UFO files and Tianwen-2. Additionally, to understand AI's impact on costs, see DeepSeek slashes prices. According to Wikipedia, NAND flash memory continues to evolve to meet data center demands.
