Smart DevicesThin moat
Kioxia Holdings (285A) — moat facet
Flash inside other companies' phones, doubled in two years and now priced high enough to change how much of it they buy.
Smart Devices is the flash that goes inside other companies' products. It had revenue of ¥759,978 million in the year to March 2026, from ¥501,142 million and ¥374,293 million in the two years before 1, a third of the company 2. The filing defines it as embedded memory products with control functions, used in smartphones, tablets and televisions and in automotive and industrial devices 3.
What is priced is capacity per device. A phone maker chooses how many gigabytes to put in each model and buys embedded flash to that specification, so revenue rises with both the price per gigabyte and the capacity in premium models. It is a concentrated market: Apple bought ¥476.0 billion from Kioxia in the year to March 2026, 20.4% of revenue 4. Kioxia does not say which application Apple's purchases fall into.
The line doubled in two years 5, from the trough of the year to March 2024, when the whole industry sold below cost 6.
No profit is disclosed. The line shares the same fabs and process as the drive business; what separates it is price, and phone makers buy on price.
The latest quarter set a record. Smart Devices revenue was ¥525.7 billion in the three months to June 2026, on significantly higher selling prices, with higher capacity in premium models offsetting a decline in lower-priced models 7. Management expects weakness in lower-priced smartphones and a slight decline in PC flash demand, as rising component costs push up device prices 8.
This is the application most exposed to consumers. Memory is now a large enough part of a phone's cost that its price affects how many phones are sold, and a buyer who pays 70% more per gigabyte tends to buy fewer gigabytes. The figure to watch is Smart Devices revenue in the September 2026 quarter against June: another rise on price with capacity per phone holding would mean phone makers are absorbing the cost; a fall would mean they are cutting capacity.
A record June 2026 quarter on price, with lower-priced phones and PC demand weakening.
A fall in the September quarter would mean phone makers are cutting capacity per device rather than absorbing the price.
Source: Kioxia Q1 FY2026 results ↗- ReportedIt had revenue of ¥759,978 million in the year to March 2026, from ¥501,142 million and ¥374,293 million in the two years before , a third of the company .Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2025 (year to 31 March 2026) - single Memory segment; revenue by application (SSD & Storage, Smart Devices, Other) and their definitions; customers above 10% (Apple ¥476.0bn, 20.4%); production cuts from October 2022 to March 2024; drivers of revenue growth — FY2024-FY2025 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcIt had revenue of ¥759,978 million in the year to March 2026, from ¥501,142 million and ¥374,293 million in the two years before , a third of the company .Moat Explorer calculation from Kioxia's Annual Securities Reports and Q1 FY2026 results: shares of revenue and growth multiples — FY2023 to Q1 FY2026 · publ. 2026-09-23 · source ↗
- ReportedThe filing defines it as embedded memory products with control functions, used in smartphones, tablets and televisions and in automotive and industrial devices .Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2025 (year to 31 March 2026) - single Memory segment; revenue by application (SSD & Storage, Smart Devices, Other) and their definitions; customers above 10% (Apple ¥476.0bn, 20.4%); production cuts from October 2022 to March 2024; drivers of revenue growth — FY2024-FY2025 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedIt is a concentrated market: Apple bought ¥476.0 billion from Kioxia in the year to March 2026, 20.4% of revenue .Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2025 (year to 31 March 2026) - single Memory segment; revenue by application (SSD & Storage, Smart Devices, Other) and their definitions; customers above 10% (Apple ¥476.0bn, 20.4%); production cuts from October 2022 to March 2024; drivers of revenue growth — FY2024-FY2025 · publ. June 2026 · source ↗
- Moat Explorer calcThe line doubled in two years , from the trough of the year to March 2024, when the whole industry sold below cost .Moat Explorer calculation from Kioxia's Annual Securities Reports and Q1 FY2026 results: shares of revenue and growth multiples — FY2023 to Q1 FY2026 · publ. 2026-09-23 · source ↗
- ReportedThe line doubled in two years , from the trough of the year to March 2024, when the whole industry sold below cost .Kioxia Holdings Annual Securities Report FY2024 (year to 31 March 2025) - revenue by application for the years to March 2024 and 2025; revenue against cost of sales; customers above 10% including the Sandisk group (¥170.5bn and ¥198.6bn) — FY2023-FY2024 · publ. June 2025 · source ↗
- ReportedSmart Devices revenue was ¥525.7 billion in the three months to June 2026, on significantly higher selling prices, with higher capacity in premium models offsetting a decline in lower-priced models .Kioxia Holdings first-quarter FY2026 results and earnings call (three months to 30 June 2026), as reported by BigGo Finance - revenue by application, ASP and bit growth, margins, demand outlook, LTA target — Q1 FY2026 · publ. 3 August 2026 · source ↗
- ReportedManagement expects weakness in lower-priced smartphones and a slight decline in PC flash demand, as rising component costs push up device prices .Kioxia Holdings first-quarter FY2026 results and earnings call (three months to 30 June 2026), as reported by BigGo Finance - revenue by application, ASP and bit growth, margins, demand outlook, LTA target — Q1 FY2026 · publ. 3 August 2026 · source ↗