Panasonic Makes SD Technology More Accessible and Affordable

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Moves Announced to Ramp Up Production of SD Memory Cards, Push Memory Expansion R & D, And Lower Suggested Pricing on Panasonic SD MediaPanasonic Makes SD Technology More Accessible and Affordable Moves Announced to Ramp Up Production of SD Memory Cards, Push Memory Expansion R & D, And Lower Suggested Pricing on Panasonic SD Media July 10 /PRNewswire/ -- Anticipating increasing demand forultra-compact, digital storage media, Panasonic today announced several stepsdesigned to help make SD Memory Cards more accessible to a wider audience,including a major price move for its current SD media. Panasonic's 64MB SDMemory Card, for example, will have a suggested minimum price (SMP) of$99.95*, lowered from $159.95*. Plans for increased SD card production, and aroadmap for the expansion of memory capacity, were also announced. Stepped-updevelopment plans call for the introduction of a 4GB SD Memory Card within3 years.

The SD Memory Card, a non-proprietary digital storage medium, was jointlydeveloped by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (Panasonic), SanDisk andToshiba. Its flexible architecture and high memory capacity accommodate awide variety of digital data, from PowerPoint(R) presentations to music tovideo to JPEG images, for a broad range of applications.

"Because of its ultra-small size, high data transmission speed and hugestorage capacity, the SD Memory Card will be one of the dominant media formatsembraced by our highly mobile, digitally networked world," said Marko Wityk,National Marketing Manager for Panasonic Consumer Electronic Company's (PCEC)Entertainment Media Division. "The SD Memory Card enables consumers to puttheir favorite music, video, digital photos and other data onto a card that'sabout the size of a postage stamp, and take their digital files virtuallyanywhere. In the coming months, we expect to see a proliferation of new,interoperable SD-enabled products coming onto the market, joining productsalready available from Panasonic and other companies."

According to Wityk, production capacity of Panasonic brand SD Memory Cardsis expected to more than double, beginning this October.

New suggested pricing on current Panasonic 16MB, 32MB and64MB SD Memory Cards will take effect July 1.

Fully capitalizing on the SD Memory Card's huge memory expansioncapability, Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company plans to introduce a256MB card by this year's holiday selling season, and a 512MB card in early2002. Additionally, the company is targeting a 1GB card by the end of 2002, a2GB card in 2003, and a 4GB card in 2004. These expanded memory cards willgive consumers a whole new range of options. A 4GB card can hold an entireDVD-quality feature movie.

The SD Memory Card is being supported by an increasing number ofmanufacturers, entertainment companies and content providers. Nearly300 companies are members of the SD Association, representing a broad range ofhardware, software and content-related industries, including music, movies,consumer electronics, personal computers, telecommunications, photographicequipment, and automobiles.

Palm, Inc., a leading provider of handheld computers, has adopted the SDMemory Card for use in its Palm(TM) m500 series handhelds, and has announcedthat it will join Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company in efforts to promoteSD's interoperability among electronic devices such as cameras and camcorders,printers, computers, Internet devices, video projectors, cell phones, personaldigital assistants (PDAs) and other handheld devices.

"We believe that the SD technology is the best choice for media expansionand interoperability among digital devices," said Palm Chief Marketing OfficerSatjiv Chahil. "For the first time, consumers and mobile professionals willbe able to use Panasonic's digital cameras, MP3 music players and camcordersto share data with their Palm m500 series handhelds."

A total of 33 Panasonic brand SD-enabled models, representing 17 productcategories, are currently available, or will soon be announced. These includedigital still cameras, digital camcorders, video projectors and the innovativee-wear(TM) portable MP3 music players.

Panasonic SD Memory Cards and SD-enabled consumer products are marketed inthe United States by Panasonic Consumer Electronics Company, while thePanasonic SD-enabled video projector is offered by Panasonic Broadcast& Television Systems Company. Both companies are divisions of MatsushitaElectric Corporation of America (MECA). MECA is the principal North Americansubsidiary of Japan-based Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.,(NYSE: MC), one of the world's largest producers of electronic and electricproducts for consumer, business and industrial use. Visit the Panasonic homepage at http://www.panasonic.com for more information.

Panasonic SD Media New Suggested Pricing Effective July 1, 2001