Western Digital to Offer Industry’s First 120 GB Hard Drive

Massive Drive at 7,200 RPM Spin Speed Satisfies the Most Demanding Storage Needs Oct. 22, 2001 - Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC), a leader in personal computing storage, today announced the availability of the highest performance 120 GB EIDE hard drive on the market - a 7,200 RPM, 40 GB/platter model. Western Digital has begun initial shipments of the WD Caviar 120 GB ATA/100 hard drive.

This marks the third consecutive first-to-market 7,200 RPM hard drive delivered by Western Digital - which was first to deliver 7,200 RPM hard drives in capacities of 80 and 100 GBs. According to TrendFOCUS in its CQ2 01 Quarterly Update, Western Digital "has become the leading supplier" in the "expanding market" for 7,200 RPM hard drives.

"We appreciate Western Digital's commitment to providing top performance, high capacity hard drives that support Compaq's top-of-the-line desktop computing systems," said Brett Faulk, director of consumer desktop marketing at Compaq Computer Corporation. "Working closely with suppliers such as Western Digital, we will continue to deliver superior performance and the latest technology our customers demand."

"Western Digital is focusing on the high-performance category of desktop hard drives where it has carved a leadership position," said Richard E. Rutledge, vice president of marketing at Western Digital. "The new WD Caviar 120 GB drive gives peace of mind to today's digital-savvy and storage-hungry power users who rely on their hard drives to perform quickly and flawlessly."

Western Digital currently maintains top performance honors from StorageReview.com. Editor and reviewer Eugene Ra expressed that the WD Caviar 100 GB desktop drive, announced July 11, 2001, "combines capacity that simply overwhelms the rest of the competition with front-running benchmark scores."

The new WD Caviar 120 GB hard drive provides storage for up to 2,000 digital photos, 5 hours of digital video, 45 hours of digital music, 22 games and 35 software programs and is ideal for users who take full advantage of massive personal storage for work or pleasure-related activities such as sophisticated business applications, digital video editing, music, movies and photography. The WD Caviar 7,200 RPM family now includes 20, 30, 40, 60, 80, 100 and 120 GB capacity models, expanding Western Digital's overall product mix.

About Western Digital
Western Digital, one of the storage industry's pioneers and long-time leaders, provides products and services for people and organizations that collect, manage and use digital information. The Company's core business produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users' data close-at-hand and secure from loss. Applying its data storage core competencies to emerging markets, Western Digital's new ventures meet the increasing demand for innovative information management solutions arising from the proliferation of the Internet and broadband services. Keen Personal Media helps cable TV MSOs build their brand and revenue by providing personal video recording technology and services. Cameo Technologies delivers broadcast-quality video content to connected PC users, offering a new branding medium for content companies and marketers. SageTree is a software company providing enterprise manufacturing and supply chain analytic applications.

Western Digital was founded in 1970. The Company's storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital brand name. Visit the Investor section of the Company's Web site (www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.

SOURCE Western Digital