Samsung rival plans monstrously fast SSD that can reach 10 million IOPS using SLC NAND

• Kioxia details its plans for a new SSD for AI workloads reaching 10 million IOPS
• IOPS measures how quickly a storage device can handle small, random requests
• New drive uses XL-Flash, a type of SLC NAND, and a new in-house controller

Kioxia has unveiled plans for a new SSD it says could hit an impressive 10 million IOPS, a level of performance aimed squarely at the demands of AI-driven systems.

The SSD will use XL-Flash, a type of single-level cell (SLC) NAND, combined with a new in-house controller.

A Kioxia spokesperson told TechPowerUp, “We’re taking our ultra-fast XL-Flash memory chips, which use single-level cells, and pairing them with a completely new controller… We're targeting over 10 million IOPS, and we plan to have samples ready by the second half of 2026.”

Difference between IOPS and GBps

IOPS, or input/output operations per second, measures how ...