Toshiba and U.S. partner Western Digital will commit 1.5 trillion yen or $14.6 billion over three years toward stepping up flash memory production at their jointly run Japanese plant, in a bid to widen global market share, Nikkei reported.

Western Digital inherited the operational tie-up at the Yokkaichi plant in Mie Prefecture when the hard-disk producer took over American rival SanDisk in May. The site in central Japan will receive a new fabrication facility, with new equipment to be installed in the existing production space. This round of capital spending over three years is about 30% more than previous comparable periods.

The plan is to boost 3-D memory production, with such chips accounting for 50% of the segment in fiscal 2017 and exceeding 80% in fiscal 2018.

The report noted that Western Digital will match Toshiba's expenditures in the segment over that three-year period. The two companies will likely spend approximately 1.5 trillion yen on the Yokkaichi plant, of which Toshiba possesses the land and the buildings. The time frame for the spending will be adjusted in tune with market conditions.

The sharing of cost burdens will raise investment efficiency. Yokkaichi's flash memory production capacity will be roughly double that of Samsung's flagship plant. In addition, plants operated by Samsung and the American joint venture of Intel and Micron Technology are dispersed across several locations.