Japanese flash-memory firm Kioxia Holdings has applied for listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Sources say Kioxia hopes it will go public by mid-October.

The company was originally a semiconductor unit of Japanese industrial giant Toshiba. It became independent in 2018 after being sold off to a US investment house and other firms as a pillar of Toshiba's reconstruction efforts.

Kioxia was approved for listing on the TSE in 2020 but postponed due to concern about the future of its business amid trade friction between the United States and China.

The flash-memory market is expected to expand further due to the spread of artificial intelligence. But the company has been lagging behind foreign manufacturers in the competition for capital investment to boost production.

Kioxia is apparently trying to strengthen its competitiveness by promoting capital investment with funds raised through the listing.