2026년 2월 26일 · Unknown · financial · 출처 Yahoo Finance
Investing.com -- Sandisk Corp is pursuing long-term supply agreements with data center customers as the NAND flash market undergoes structural changes driven by artificial intelligence demand, CEO David Goeckeler said Wednesday at Bernstein’s TMT Forum.
The company is working to establish multi-year contracts that balance predictable demand with attractive economics, moving away from the industry’s traditional quarterly pricing model. Goeckeler said these agreements have evolved from price negotiation tools into critical supply assurance mechanisms as data center customers become the largest consumers of NAND flash.
Sandisk expects data center to represent the largest NAND market segment in calendar 2026, with growth forecasts rising from mid-20% to mid-to-high 60% over two forecast cycles. The company reported 64% sequential growth in data center sales last quarter, following low-to-mid 20% growth in the prior period.
The shift reflects fundamental market changes as hyperscalers require greater supply visibility for their expanding infrastructure needs. Goeckeler said customers are providing demand forecasts extending through 2028, prompting discussions about agreements lasting one to five years.
"We’re trying to maximize these two things - we need to get very attractive financials for our business, and then we need to sustain that," Goeckeler said. He added that the company aims to create a portfolio of fixed and variable pricing arrangements to perform well across market conditions.
CFO Luis Visoso said customers willing to make longer-term commitments will receive priority allocation in tight supply environments, while those preferring quarterly negotiations may face limited availability.
The company maintains its investment plan for mid-to-high teens bit growth and expects to exit fiscal 2026 with BiCS8 as the predominant technology node. Goeckeler dismissed market speculation about accelerating BiCS10 deployment to meet demand, saying current capacity plans are sufficient.
Sandisk holds approximately 25% share in the edge computing market and is expanding its enterprise solid-state drive portfolio. The company is qualifying new products with hyperscalers, including a 128 terabyte QLC enterprise SSD codenamed Stargate, which has not yet begun revenue shipments.
The company is also developing high-bandwidth flash technology in partnership with SK Hynix, targeting inference workloads in AI applications. Goeckeler said the technology offers 10 times greater density than alternatives and expects to have prototype dies by late 2026, with customer testing systems available approximately one year later.
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Sandisk extended its joint venture with Kioxia for another five years, securing manufacturing capacity through 2034. The partnership enables the company to invest in research and development at levels comparable to the highest market share competitors while maintaining cost leadership.
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