SanDisk opened a new $170 million factory in China dedicated to developing and testing flash memory products for mobile phones. The plant will assemble memory-based chip packages that pair flash chips with controllers. To be clear, the plant will not create the silicon chips, only test and assemble components manufactured at SanDisk's facilities in Japan. The company has an agreement with Toshiba to operate the manufacturing plants in Japan. The new facility is located in Shanghai's Zizhu Science Park and will launch with more than 700 employees.

For more on SanDisk's increasing commitment to mobile phone memory:
- read this report from the WSJ