Western Digital production impacted as materials at Japan production facilities contaminated
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Western Digital (NASDAQ:WDC) said late on Wednesday that certain materials at two Japanese manufacturing facilities were contaminated, hurting production of its flash storage drives.
The contamination occurred at its Yokkaichi and Kitakami facilities, which it operates with its joint venture partner, Kioxia.

"Western Digitalâs current assessment of the impact is a reduction of its flash availability of at least 6.5 exabytes," the company said in a statement. "The company is working closely with its joint venture partner, Kioxia, to implement necessary measures that will restore the facilities to normal operational status as quickly as possible."
Western Digital shares were down nearly 2% to $53.41 in premarket trading, while Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU), which makes processors for flash storage, rose more than 3.5% to $91.25.
Last month, Western Digital announced that it had hired a new finance chief, Wissam Jabre, who previously served as CFO of Dialog Semiconductor.