Related Parties and Related Commitments and Contingencies

6 Months Ended

Dec. 29, 2023

Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]

Flash Ventures

The Company’s business ventures with Kioxia Corporation (“Kioxia”) consist of three separate legal entities: Flash Partners Ltd. (“Flash Partners”), Flash Alliance Ltd. (“Flash Alliance”), and Flash Forward Ltd. (“Flash Forward”), collectively referred to as “Flash Ventures”.

The following table presents the notes receivable from, and equity investments in, Flash Ventures:


	December 29, 2023		June 30, 2023
	(in millions)
Notes receivable, Flash Partners	$	9	$	37
Notes receivable, Flash Alliance	28		48
Notes receivable, Flash Forward	689		709
Investment in Flash Partners	168		161
Investment in Flash Alliance	279		276
Investment in Flash Forward	171		179
Total notes receivable and investments in Flash Ventures	$	1,344	$	1,410

During the three and six months ended December 29, 2023 and December 30, 2022, the Company made net payments to Flash Ventures of $0.8 billion and $1.8 billion, and $1.0 billion and $2.0 billion, respectively, for purchased flash-based memory wafers and net loans.

The Company makes, or will make, loans to Flash Ventures to fund equipment investments for new process technologies and additional wafer capacity. The Company aggregates its Flash Ventures’ notes receivable into one class of financing receivables due to the similar ownership interest and common structure in each Flash Venture entity. For all reporting periods presented, no loans were past due and no loan impairments were recorded. The Company’s notes receivable from each Flash Ventures entity, denominated in Japanese yen, are secured by equipment owned by that Flash Ventures entity.

As of December 29, 2023 and June 30, 2023, the Company had accounts payable balances due to Flash Ventures of $251 million and $292 million, respectively.

The Company’s maximum reasonably estimable loss exposure (excluding lost profits) as a result of its involvement with Flash Ventures, based upon the Japanese yen to U.S. dollar exchange rate at December 29, 2023, is presented below. Investments in Flash Ventures are denominated in Japanese yen, and the maximum estimable loss exposure excludes any cumulative translation adjustment due to revaluation from the Japanese yen to the U.S. dollar.


	December 29, 2023
	(in millions)
Notes receivable	$	726
Equity investments	618
Operating lease guarantees	1,609
Inventory and prepayments	1,058
Maximum estimable loss exposure	$	4,011

The Company is obligated to pay for variable costs incurred in producing its share of Flash Ventures’ flash-based memory wafer supply, based on its three-month forecast, which generally equals 50% of Flash Ventures’ output. In addition, the Company is obligated to pay for half of Flash Ventures’ fixed costs regardless of the output the Company chooses to purchase. The Company is not able to estimate its total wafer purchase commitment obligation beyond its rolling three-month purchase commitment because the price is determined by reference to the future cost of producing the semiconductor wafers. In addition, the Company is committed to fund 49.9% to 50.0% of each Flash Ventures entity’s capital investments to the extent that each Flash Ventures entity’s operating cash flow is insufficient to fund these investments.

Flash Ventures has historically operated near 100% of its manufacturing capacity. As a result of flash market conditions, the Company temporarily reduced its utilization of its share of Flash Ventures’ manufacturing capacity to an abnormally low level to more closely align the Company’s flash-based wafer supply with projected demand. During the three and six months ended December 29, 2023, the Company incurred costs of $107 million and $249 million, respectively, associated with the reduction in utilization related to Flash Ventures, which was recorded as a charge to Cost of revenue. No such charges were incurred during the three and six months ended December 30, 2022.

In February 2022, contamination of certain material used in manufacturing processes occurred at Flash Ventures’ fabrication facilities in both Yokkaichi and Kitakami, Japan which resulted in damage to inventory units in production, a temporary disruption to production operations and a reduction in the Company’s flash wafer availability. During 2022, the Company incurred charges of $207 million related to this contamination incident that were recorded in Cost of revenue and primarily consisted of scrapped inventory and rework costs, decontamination and other costs needed to restore the facilities to normal capacity, as well as charges for under absorption of overhead costs. During the three months ended December 29, 2023, the Company received a recovery of $36 million related to this incident from its insurance carriers, which was recorded in Cost of revenue. The Company continues to pursue recovery of its remaining losses associated with this event; however, the total amount of recovery cannot be estimated at this time.

The Company has facility agreements with Kioxia related to the construction and operation of Kioxia’s “K1” 300-millimeter wafer fabrication facility in Kitakami, Japan and a wafer fabrication facility in Yokkaichi, Japan, referred to as “Y7”. In connection with the start-up of these facilities, the Company has made prepayments toward future building depreciation. As of December 29, 2023, such prepayments aggregated $549 million and will be credited against future wafer charges.

Inventory Purchase Commitments with Flash Ventures. Purchase orders placed under Flash Ventures for up to three months are binding and cannot be canceled.

Research and Development Activities. The Company participates in common research and development (“R&D”) activities with Kioxia and is contractually committed to a minimum funding level. R&D commitments are immaterial to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements.

Off-Balance Sheet Liabilities

Flash Ventures sells to and leases back from a consortium of financial institutions a portion of its tools and has entered into equipment lease agreements of which the Company guarantees half or all of the outstanding obligations under each lease agreement. The lease agreements are subject to customary covenants and cancellation events related to Flash Ventures and each of the guarantors. The occurrence of a cancellation event could result in an acceleration of Flash Ventures’ obligations and a call on the Company’s guarantees.

The following table presents the Company’s portion of the remaining guarantee obligations under the Flash Ventures’ lease facilities in both Japanese yen and U.S. dollar-equivalent, based upon the Japanese yen to U.S. dollar exchange rate as of December 29, 2023.


	Lease Amounts
	(Japanese yen, in billions)		(U.S. dollar, in millions)
Total guarantee obligations	¥	228	$	1,609

The following table details the breakdown of the Company’s remaining guarantee obligations between the principal amortization and the purchase option exercise price at the end of the term of the Flash Ventures lease agreements, in annual installments as of December 29, 2023 in U.S. dollars, based upon the Japanese yen to U.S. dollar exchange rate as of December 29, 2023:


Annual Installments	Payment of Principal Amortization		Purchase Option Exercise Price at Final Lease Terms		Guarantee Amount
	(in millions)
Remaining six months of 2024	$	237	$	57	$	294
2025	300		84		384
2026	362		127		489
2027	150		108		258
2028	47		104		151
2029	3		30		33
Total guarantee obligations	$	1,099	$	510	$	1,609

The Company and Kioxia have agreed to mutually contribute to, and indemnify each other and Flash Ventures for, environmental remediation costs or liability resulting from Flash Ventures’ manufacturing operations in certain circumstances. The Company has not made any indemnification payments, nor recorded any indemnification receivables, under any such agreements. As of December 29, 2023, no amounts had been accrued in the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements with respect to these indemnification agreements.

Unis Venture

The Company has a joint venture with Unisplendour Corporation Limited and Unissoft (Wuxi) Group Co. Ltd. (“Unis”), referred to as the “Unis Venture”, to market and sell the Company’s products in China and to develop data storage systems for the Chinese market in the future. The Unis Venture is 49% owned by the Company and 51% owned by Unis. The Company accounts for its investment in the Unis Venture under the equity method of accounting. Revenue on products distributed by the Unis Venture is recognized upon sell through to third-party customers. For the three and six months ended December 29, 2023, the Company recognized approximately 4% and 3% of its consolidated revenue, respectively, on products distributed by the Unis Venture. For both the three and six months ended December 30, 2022, the Company recognized approximately 3% of its consolidated revenue on products distributed by the Unis Venture. The outstanding accounts receivable due from the Unis Venture were 8% of Accounts receivable, net as of both December 29, 2023 and June 30, 2023.