Hiroo Ota, CEO of Kioxia (285A.JP) who took office in April, downplayed the possibility of deeper cooperation with rival and shareholder SK hynix Inc. (SKHY.US), while pledging to curb rising memory chip prices to avoid hurting long-term AI demand.

He said stronger cooperation with SK hynix could face antitrust obstacles and would also be difficult to coordinate with the manufacturing facilities jointly owned by Kioxia and Sandisk Corporation (SNDK.US). The three companies have not discussed joint production either.

Kioxia's NAND flash memory prices surged 70% QoQ in 2Q, after more than doubling in 1Q. Analysts on average expected the company's operating profit to amplify by more than nine times in the fiscal year ending March next year.

Ota said price increases have already gone too far and he has instructed the sales team not to seek substantial price hikes from data center operators, worrying that this could erode investment appetite in the AI sector, though he did not rule out further price increases in the future.
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