- SanDisk BiCS10 chip reaches a density of 29 Gb per square millimeter
- Bit density improved by 59% compared to the previous generation of BiCS8
- Interface speeds now reach 4.8 Gb/s, an increase of 33%
SanDisk has confirmed that it is now testing BiCS10, its 10th generation 3D NAND flash chip, co-built with long-time manufacturing partner Kioxia.
The 1TB TLC chip includes 332 layers of memory on a chip that achieves an area bit density greater than 29Gb per square millimeter, which the company considers industry leading.
That figure represents a 59% improvement in bit density compared to the previous generation of BiCS8 currently in mass production.
A small chip built to scale in massive units
BiCS10 uses Sandisk CMOS directly connected to a die architecture, along with a new DDR6.0 Toggle interface that drives data transfer speeds of up to 4.8 Gb/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 also improved substantially: input power consumption fell by 10% and output power consumption fell by 34% relative to BiCS8.
SanDisk has already confirmed a broader roadmap based on this chip, targeting a 256TB SSD in 2026 and a 512TB drive in 2027.
The company has also teased an eventual 1PB data center unit, although it has not committed to a specific year for that product.
These capacity jumps depend on the adoption of QLC memory, and SanDisk will lean towards QLC for most capacity-focused products by 2028.
The technology behind these future drives comes from a new generation 332-layer 3D NAND developed through the SanDisk and Kioxia partnership.
The chip is built as a 1TB TLC die, and capacity increases are achieved through layer stacking and improved side scaling rather than adding more bits per cell.
Instead of adding more bits to each memory cell, companies are increasing density through additional layers, improved layouts, and new circuit designs.
The company reported that the new generation achieved a data transfer speed of 4.8 Gbps and reduced read power consumption by 29% compared to previous designs.
These improvements aim to increase capacity without sacrificing endurance and reliability as much as higher bits per cell methods might create.
Current prices show why 512TB drives won’t be cheap
Existing high-capacity enterprise drives offer the clearest signal of where the 512TB price point will end up.
Solidigm’s 122.88TB D5-P5336 series currently sells for between approximately $49,275 and $64,168, depending on the configuration and packaging options chosen.
Scaling that cost per terabyte up to a 512TB drive suggests a price comfortably north of $300,000 once SanDisk’s version hits the market in 2027.
Competition in this space remains intense, with Kioxia, Samsung, Solidigm and Micron racing towards similar capacity milestones in comparable timeframes.
Samsung has separately confirmed plans for a 512TB PCIe 6.0 drive around 2027, following the 256TB Gen 5 launch expected in 2026.
NAND supply itself remains tight, with flash contract prices expected to rise 70-75% quarter over quarter through mid-2026.
That shortage, driven largely by enterprise demand tied to generative AI infrastructure, will likely keep prices for these units elevated well beyond the initial launch.
SanDisk’s BiCS10 sampling marks just the first technical step toward that 2027 goal, with mass production and finished units still several years away from widespread availability.
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