Last week, Micron announced they would be developing the world’s smallest 64-layer 3D NAND using their CMOS under Array technology.

They project that they will be able to produce 80% more gigabyte per wafer than their yields in 2016 by the end of this year.

Western Digital, on the other hand, are working towards the world’s first 64-layer 512GB TLC NAND die in order to close the supply-demand gap. They’ll be doing this through a plant that Toshiba operates. This fab is located in Yokkaichi, Japan and is the largest in the world.

Why is this important? Well, the world is going through NAND storage faster than any can be produced. Last year, many vendors encountered problems with 48-layer 3D NAND and a lot of wastage happened. Peak production at the aforementioned fab, for instance, was at 2 million products per day before last year’s flop. If this 64-Layer NAND ends up being successful (and Micron, at least, say that the yields are very promising), we may get the affordable solid state drives we’ve been waiting for.