WD Ships Industry's Highest Capacity Mobile Hard Drive for Notebooks and Portable Storage Devices

LAKE FOREST, Calif., May 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Western Digital Corp. today announced it is now shipping its 250 GB WD Scorpio(TM) 2.5-inch Serial ATA (SATA) hard drives. The drives employ perpendicular magnetic recording (PMR) technology to achieve the highest capacity available in a small form factor drive and have WD proprietary features that make the drive quiet, use less power and run at cool operating temperatures.

"The 2.5-inch market continues to be a major focus for WD, and this 250 GB WD Scorpio drive represents our second-generation PMR platform," said Jim Morris, WD's vice president and general manager of notebook storage. "The WD Scorpio 250 GB hard drive is a direct result of the significant investments WD has made in proprietary head technologies as well as significant system level feature innovation. With the introduction of our latest-generation WD Scorpio drives, WD continues to offer mobile computing and portable storage customers the same outstanding quality, reliability and performance that have earned the company a leadership position in the desktop PC market."

According to market research firm, IDC, adoption of PMR technology in mobile 2.5-inch hard drives will sustain an increase in the average capacity shipped close to the average growth rate of 32 percent for the past five years. The firm states that by 2011, shipments of mobile 2.5-inch hard drives will more than double 2006 shipment volumes.*

Demand for 2.5-inch hard drives continues to increase at a rapid pace, driven by notebook computers, portable storage devices and consumer electronics products. Users of these applications need high capacity drives to manage storage-hungry content. WD Scorpio drives deliver the performance and features to meet demands that are specific to notebook PCs and portable storage devices, such as WD Passport(R) portable drives: quiet operation, high shock tolerance and low power consumption.

The new WD Scorpio drive further expands the company's breadth of 2.5-inch mobile hard drive offerings to capacity points ranging from 40 GB up to 250 GB.

WD Scorpio Exclusive Features

WD's exclusive WhisperDrive(TM) technology combines state-of-the-art seeking algorithms to yield it one of the quietest 5400 RPM, 2.5-inch drives available. Leading-edge ShockGuard(TM) technology combines firmware and hardware advancements to protect the drive mechanics and platter surface to meet the highest combined shock tolerance specifications required for mobile and notebook applications.

Another unique WD Scorpio 250 GB feature is its IntelliSeek(TM) technology, which proactively calculates an optimum seek speed to eliminate hasty movement of the actuator that produces noise and requires power, which is common in other drives. With IntelliSeek, the actuator's movement is controlled so the head reaches the next target sector just in time to read the next piece of information, rather than rapidly accelerating and waiting for the drive rotation to catch up. This smooth motion reduces power usage by more than 60 percent compared with standard drives, as well as quiets seek operation and lowers vibration.

For a demonstration on IntelliSeek, visit the WD Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/flash/index.asp?family=intelliseek.

About PMR

With PMR technology, the magnetization of each data bit is aligned vertically to the spinning disk, rather than longitudinally as has been the case in hard drive technology for decades. This enables more data on a given disk than is possible with conventional longitudinal recording, and provides a platform for future expansion of hard drive densities.

Pricing and Availability

WD Scorpio 250 GB drives (model WD2500BEVS) are available on the company's online store (http://www.westerndigital.com/). Estimated pricing is $199.99 USD. More information about WD Scorpio mobile drives may be found on the company's Web site at http://www.wdc.com/en/products/products.asp?driveid=314.

About WD

WD, 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 produces reliable, high-performance hard drives that keep users' data close-at-hand and secure from loss. WD applies its storage expertise to consumer products for external, portable and shared storage products.

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

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to: expected increases in the volume of mobile 2.5-inch hard drives shipped and average capacity shipped; and expected increase in demand for mobile 2.5-inch hard drives. These forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations, and actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including: supply and demand conditions in the hard drive industry and business conditions generally; and other risks and uncertainties listed in WD's recent SEC filings, including its form 10-Q for the third fiscal quarter of 2007. WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events or for any other reason.

Western Digital, WD, the WD logo and WD Passport are registered trademarks and WD Scorpio, ShockGuard and WhisperDrive are trademarks of Western Digital Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks herein are property of their respective owner.

* Source: IDC Doc. 206701, "Worldwide Hard Disk Drive 2007-2011 Forecast and Analysis: Creating Space for an Expanding Digital Universe", May 2007.

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