Kioxia has unveiled its BG7 Series solid state drives at CES 2026, the first client SSDs to feature the company’s eighth-generation BiCS Flash NAND. The launch arrives at a time when manufacturers redirect capacity toward AI infrastructure and Micron exits the consumer memory business entirely.

The BG7 Series targets OEM laptop and desktop manufacturers who need efficient, cost-effective storage for thin-and-light notebooks and compact form-factor systems. You won’t find these drives in retail packaging, but predecessors of the BG7 have been included in countless laptops from major manufacturers to date,

BiCS Flash Gen 8 and CBA Architecture Drive Performance Gains

At the heart of the BG7 lies Kioxia’s eighth-generation BiCS Flash technology, which introduces CMOS Directly Bonded to Array (CBA) wafer bonding. Unlike conventional manufacturing where control circuits and memory cells share a single wafer, CBA fabricates these components separately before bonding them together with precision copper-to-copper connections.

This architectural shift delivers tangible benefits. The separate fabrication process allows each component to undergo optimal thermal treatments without compromising the other. Memory cells can withstand high-temperature annealing that improves reliability, while CMOS circuits maintain peak performance characteristics. The result is a 218-layer flash memory architecture that achieves what Kioxia describes as over 18Gb/mm² bit density.

Sequential read speeds reach 7,000 MB/s on the BG7, with write speeds hitting 6,400 MB/s depending on capacity. Random performance tops out at 1,000,000 IOPS for both read and write operations. Compared to the BG6 predecessor, that translates to roughly 16% faster sequential reads and 10% improvement in random workload performance.

However, it’s the power efficiency metrics where the BG7 makes its strongest case. Sequential write operations consume approximately 67% less power than the previous generation, according to Kioxia’s specifications.

Form Factors Expand to 2242

The BG7 Series ships in three M.2 form factors: the established 2230 and 2280 options, plus a new 2242 variant. That middle-ground size matters for system integrators working with increasingly compact chassis designs where every millimeter counts. Capacity options span 256GB, 512GB, 1TB, and 2TB, giving OEMs flexibility to balance cost and storage needs across different product tiers.

All models connect via PCIe 4.0 x4 lanes and support NVMe 2.0d, which provides system builders with finer control over power states and device behavior. For security-focused deployments, Kioxia offers models with TCG Opal 2.01 self-encrypting drive functionality, though pricing and availability details for these variants haven’t been disclosed.

Like its BG-series predecessors, the BG7 uses a DRAM-less design that relies on Host Memory Buffer (HMB) technology. Rather than including dedicated cache chips on the drive itself, the controller borrows system memory to handle internal operations. This approach cuts manufacturing costs significantly while maintaining adequate performance for typical client workloads.

Market Context: Supply Constraints and Strategic Realignment

The BG7’s arrival coincides with a great deal of turbulence in the memory industry. IDC analysts warn that AI infrastructure demand is forcing what amounts to a permanent reallocation of global silicon wafer capacity. Every wafer assigned to high-bandwidth memory for AI accelerators means fewer wafers available for consumer-grade DRAM and NAND flash.

Industry projections suggest AI applications will consume nearly 20% of global DRAM wafer capacity by 2026 when accounting for the resource-intensive nature of high-bandwidth memory production. Each gigabyte of HBM requires roughly three times the manufacturing capacity of standard DDR5 memory due to yield losses from 3D stacking and Through-Silicon Via processes.

Micron announced in December 2025 that it is about to shutter the Crucial consumer brand by February 2026 to focus on more profitable enterprise markets. This is after 29 years in the consumer memory market.

Kioxia’s BG7 launch timing potentially allows the company to fill gaps left by Crucial’s departure from the OEM market. With Micron stepping back, laptop manufacturers still need suppliers who can deliver cost-effective storage at volume.

The broader OEM SSD landscape remains dominated by a handful of major players, including Samsung, SK Hynix (through Solidigm), Western Digital, and Kioxia.