Japanese semiconductor firm Kioxia Holdings Corp., formerly known as Toshiba Memory Corp., said today it’s postponing an initial public offering that was due to take place next month.

The company, which is the world’s second-largest maker of flash memory chips behind Samsung Electronics Ltd., said it was calling off its IPO because of stock market volatility and the coronavirus pandemic.

The company was expected to release a proposed listing price for its shares today ahead of its Oct. 6 stock market debut. The price was expected to value it at about $16 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported.

“While we received significant interest from many investors, the lead underwriters and Kioxia do not believe it is in the best interest of current or prospective shareholders to proceed with the IPO at this time of continued market volatility and ongoing concerns about a second wave of the pandemic,” said Kioxia President and Chief Executive Nobuo Hayasaka.

The company didn’t announce a new date for its IPO, instead saying it will revisit the plan at an appropriate time.

The Nikkei Asia Review said that in addition to the coronavirus and stock markets, Kioxia has also been hurt by the tough U.S. sanctions placed on one of its biggest customers, Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. Sales to Huawei make up a considerable part of Kioxia’s revenue and are now likely be subject to U.S. export restrictions, it said.

The U.S. Commerce Department said in August that non-U.S. companies will need a special license to sell chips made with American technology to Huawei. That’s a problem for Kioxia, since most of its chips are manufactured using U.S. technology. So the rule severely damages Huawei’s ability to source components for its smartphones and telecommunications gear.

The U.S. restrictions on Huawei could also lead to excess supply that will cause price drops for flash memory products, Nikkei said.

Kioxia emerged from the 2018 sale of Toshiba Memory Corp. by its parent company Toshiba Corp. to a consortium led by Bain & Co. Inc. that included SK Hynix Inc., Apple Inc., Dell Technologies Inc., Seagate Technology PLC and Kingston Technology Corp. Toshiba retains a 40% stake in the firm.

Analyst Holger Mueller of Constellation Research Inc. told SiliconANGLE the IPO postponement was just the latest chapter in the long and once glamorous history of Toshiba’s memory business, which actually invented flash memory back in the early 1980s. He said the delay is a blot on Kioxia’s management, as investors need to have trust that the company can solve the business challenges it faces.

“All too often we see technology vendors dressing up for an IPO and then disappointing later. Long term investors want to see a competent management team that can successfully resolve these kinds of challenges that pose Kioxia now,” Mueller said. “The delayed IPO could be perceived as a lack of confidence in its current executive team.”

It has been a busy summer for IPOs in any case, what with Snowflake Computing Inc.’s $33 billion debut on the New York Stock Exchange and similarly strong showings from Sumo Logic Inc. and Jfrog Ltd. But not every IPO has been a success, with Rackspace Technology Inc. losing 20% of its value when it made its public debut in August.

Image: Kioxia