Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC) has decided to withdraw its offer for Toshiba's NAND flash memory business leaving Foxconn Electronics (Hon Hai Precision Industry) the only Taiwan-based company in the list of bidders, according to industry sources.

TSMC is aware it has become less-attractive than US bidders to Toshiba, said the sources. The Taiwan-based foundry has also been doubtful about entering the memory business, the sources indicated.

Foxconn has reportedly offered the highest price among the interested buyers of Toshiba's memory-chip unit. However, Reuters quoted its sources as saying in a recent report that a sale to Foxconn could be blocked by the Japan government due to national security issues.

Apple, Amazon, Google, Micron Technology, Western Digital and the pairing of Silver Lake Partners and Broadcom are reportedly among the US companies bidding for Toshiba's memory-chip business. The US players have also been identified by the Japan government as the "more suitable" bidders, according to the Reuters report.

On March 30, Toshiba's shareholders approved the company's plan to split off the NAND flash business and sell the unit in order to raise at lease JPY1 trillion (US$9 billion) to cover mounting losses at its US nuclear arm Westinghouse.