Japanese chipmaker Toshiba Corp. revealed on Thursday that it is thinking about investing around JPY 20 to JPY 30 billion (about US $200 to 300 million) to purchase new equipment. The decision aims to boost its position in the NAND technology race.

The equipment will allow it to manufacture NAND flash memory chips that are being used in smartphones and other digital devices. If all goes well, the new facilities would begin rolling out the new chips in the middle of next year.

Toshiba has been trying to invest in new technologies that will enable it to manufacture new chips featuring circuitry no more than 19 nanometers. The new endeavour is also expected to increase its production significantly.

The plan is different from the announcement Toshiba made this month to put in another JPY 30 billion to expand and refurbish the building that houses one of its NAND manufacturing plants.

The biggest competitor of Toshiba for NAND market is South Korea's Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. On Thursday, Samsung unveiled a new storage system using NAND technology that is seen to replace hard disks in computers.