FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Kim Nguyen Hitachi Global Storage Technologies 408-717-7589
[email protected] HITACHI INCREASES MICRODRIVE PRODUCTION ON DEMAND FOR HIGH-CAPACITY DIGITAL MUSIC PLAYERS Company Commits Multi-million Dollar Investment to Double Thailand Manufacturing SAN JOSE, Calif. – May 17, 2004 – Driven by exponential increase in demand for its Microdrive storage media, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is implementing an unprecedented growth strategy for the one-inch hard drive. In 2004, Hitachi GST plans a substantial manufacturing expansion for the 4 gigabyte* (GB) Microdrive product at its Thailand facility. This development is being spurred by the proliferation of hard disk- based storage in consumer electronic devices, especially portable digital music players. Hitachi GST recently received approval from the Thailand Board of Investment (BOI) to expand its local hard drive production from 30 million to 60 million units annually, including production of the one-inch Microdrive, 2.5-inch Travelstar and 3.5-inch Deskstar product lines. To double its annual production, Hitachi GST will invest $200 million (8 billion Baht) to upgrade and expand the Thailand facility over several years. With this move, Thailand will help to positively impact hard drive availability worldwide, especially Hitachi GST’s highly popular Microdrive product. In 2004, Hitachi GST plans to significantly increase production volume of the 4 GB Microdrive media to several million units per quarter. The company expects this growth trajectory to continue into the foreseeable future, in line with consumers’ growing appetite for storing large amounts of entertainment content in portable formats. The recent Thailand BOI action will more easily facilitate any additional Microdrive manufacturing increases Hitachi GST needs to make beyond current production plans.