Ciprico Revises Outlook for Fourth Quarter.

Business Editors

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 2001

Ciprico Inc. (Nasdaq:CPCI), a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-performance direct-attached and networked storage solutions, today announced a revised outlook for its fourth quarter ending September 30, 2001.

Ciprico expects revenue for the fourth quarter to be approximately $4.5 million to $5.5 million and expects a net loss per share of ($0.78) to ($0.85) per share, excluding any income tax effects. This compares with previous expectations of sales of $8.0 million and a net loss of ($0.27) per share for the quarter.

Robert H. Kill, Ciprico President and CEO, said, "Our lower expectations for the fourth quarter are primarily due to the recent deferral of significant orders from some of our larger domestic customers in both our entertainment and government segments. We also continue to experience soft conditions in our international business in Europe and Japan. We had expected orders for the quarter of $2.3 million that have been pushed out by our two largest customers. In addition, the overall level of general book and ship business has been significantly reduced this quarter, particularly this past week.

"We are confident the long range prospects in our markets are fundamentally sound despite the current economic conditions and uncertainties. As we look to 2002, we are positioned to be a leading storage supplier to broadcast OEM's and the emerging streaming markets. We have expanded our customer base across our markets and expect new business in defense and streaming applications. We believe our long-term prospects in the DOD sector are favorable given our ruggedized product capabilities and strong expertise with government and military imagery applications. As expected, we have received orders and started shipping to several SPAWAR programs. At the present time, however, we are not able to determine the short-term impact on expected demand in this segment of our business, including future orders under the SPAWAR programs. Overall, we are very positive about how well Ciprico is positioned to emerge as a leader in each of our markets."

Thomas S. Wargolet, VP-Finance & CFO added, "While we proactively cut costs this past year to streamline operations, we are committed to our investments in strategic and core product developments. We will continue to evaluate our operations to ensure we control expenses given the lower short-term sales projections and our focus towards achieving break-even operating performance. Given the uncertain economic environment, we are not in a position at this time to provide any guidance for fiscal 2002."

Ciprico's fourth quarter and year-end earnings release is scheduled for November 12, 2001.

Certain statements in this news release are forward-looking and should be read in conjunction with cautionary statements in Ciprico's SEC filings, reports to shareholders and other news releases. Such forward-looking statements, which reflect our current view of future events and financial performance, involve known and unknown risks that could cause actual results and facts to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements for a variety of reasons. Some of these reasons include the integration of the recently acquired technology and personnel; impact on revenues and earnings of the timing of product enhancements and new product releases; market acceptance of new products; sales and distribution issues; competition; dependence on suppliers; dependence on the cost of disk drives; limited backlog; the historic and recurring pattern of a disproportionate percentage of total quarterly sales occurring the last month and weeks of a quarter; and the increasing volatility of national and international economic conditions. Investors should take such risks into account when making investment decisions. Shareholders and other readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date on which they are made. Ciprico undertakes no obligation to update publicly or revise any forward-looking statements.

About Ciprico

Ciprico designs, manufactures and markets high-performance direct-attached and networked storage solutions, including intelligent hardware, software and professional services. Ciprico storage solutions are designed for visual computing applications ranging from high-speed image data capture, through processing and analysis, to real-time playback at sustained performance levels. Ciprico is headquartered in Minneapolis, MN. More information about Ciprico is available on the World Wide Web at www.ciprico.com.