Hitachi Introduces Industry's Highest-Density Flash Cards, Meeting Needs of Applications such as Network Servers and Professional Digital Cameras.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 26, 2000

The 448-MByte CompactFlash(TM) card and 1-GByte PC-ATA Flash card

offer high-speed programming and fast data transfers

for maximum system performance

Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. established new industry capacity records for Flash cards by introducing today a 448-MByte CompactFlash(TM) (CF(TM)) Type-II card, the HB288448E5, and a 1-GByte Type-II Flash PC-ATA card, the HB2881000A5. Both solid-state devices address the growing need for extremely high density, high-performance, rewriteable program and data storage in leading-edge products and systems. Key applications include the network servers that power the Internet and corporate intranets, and the high-resolution digital cameras used by professional photographers and amateur enthusiasts.

Convenient and rugged, the new CF and PC-ATA Flash cards are also ideal nonvolatile storage solutions for many types of consumer electronic products and industrial equipment. In MP3 players, for example, the compact 448-MByte CF card provides up to seven hours of CD-quality recording and playback, while the larger 1-GByte PC-ATA card stores and plays up to 16 hours of content. In remote monitoring systems for factories, environmental research and other applications, the cards deliver expanded storage capacity for increased utility.

To reduce the programming time needed to store large amounts of data, the Flash cards have fast programming speeds: up to 2 MBytes/second. Their fast data transfer rates -- as high as 10 MBytes/second -- further helps to maximize the performance of the systems in which the cards are used.

The HB288448E5 and HB2881000A5 Flash cards conform to popular industry standards and are interchangeable with other devices that conform to the same standards. Thus, the removable, transportable cards allow easy, plug-in memory capacity upgrades for many systems.

Cards are built with Hitachi's 256-Mbit Flash chips and DDP packaging:

To obtain the new Flash cards' record-setting capacities, Hitachi

-- bases the cards on its HN29W25611 256-Mbit AND-type Flash

memory chips, which employ Multi-Level Cell (MLC) process

technology and are fabricated in volume with a proven 0.25-um

process, and on optimized Flash card controller ASIC devices

that use a SuperH(R) RISC engine core

-- uses a proven double-density package (DDP) technology that

allows two die to be stacked in the same space as one

TSOP-packaged chip.

Expanding a successful product line

The 448-MByte Type-II CF card and 1-GByte Flash PC-ATA card expand Hitachi's broad product line and reinforce the company's commitment to this exciting market. Other products in the line include 8-MByte to 192-MByte Type-I (3.3-mm thick) CF cards, 8-MByte to 640-MByte Flash PC-ATA cards, and a 16-MByte Secure MultiMediaCard. These Flash cards serve a broad span of applications, including handheld PCs, PDAs, solid-state recorders, external storage devices, digital cameras, digital camcorders, and much more.

According to Mark D'Arcangelo, product manager, nonvolatile memory, "Hitachi is one of the top five Flash card manufacturers, per the IDC 1999 Flash Card Market Share Report. We take full advantage of our advanced Flash device technology, extensive design and manufacturing expertise, and high-volume production facilities to deliver to customers reliable, high-performance, high-quality Flash cards in quantity. We are continuing to develop our Flash component and controller technology with forward and backward compatibility to ensure customer satisfaction and to meet the changing needs of the Flash memory market."

Price and availability

The Hitachi HB288448E5 Type-II 448-Mbyte CompactFlash(TM) card is $895 in 1,000 quantity, and the Hitachi HB2881000A5 Type-II 1-Gbyte PC-ATA card is $2,000 in 1,000 quantity. These high-capacity Flash cards will be available in 3Q2000. At that time, new lower-capacity Hitachi CompactFlash cards, the HB288320E5 (320-MByte) and HB288256E5 (256-MByte) Type-II CF cards, will also become available.

Product Specifications

Part Number                                     Capacity
----------------------------------------------- ---------------------
Type-II                       HB288448E5        448 MBytes
  CompactFlash(TM)            -----------------
                              HB288320E5        320 MBytes
                              -----------------
                              HB288256E5        256 MBytes
----------------------------- ----------------- ---------------------
PC-ATA Flash card             HB2881000A5       1 GByte
----------------------------- ----------------- ---------------------

------------ ---------------------------------------------------------
Item           CompactFlash Type II cards   PC-ATA Flash card, Type II
               HB288448E5/HB288320E5/              HB2881000A5
               HB288256E5
------------ ---------------------------------------------------------
Interface            PC Card Standard ATA
  specifications      True-IDE Mode
------------------ --------------------------------------------------
Capacity             448/320/256 MBytes              1 GByte
------------------ ---------------------------------------------------
Operating voltage    3.3 V +/-5% / 5 V +/-10%
------------------ ---------------------------------------------------
Programming          2-MByte/sec.(max.), 6-chip interleave
  speed
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------
 External power         3.3 V      5 V        3.3 V         5 V
 supply voltage
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------
          Sleep (typ.)  0.5 mA      1 mA      0.5 mA         1 mA
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------
           Read (typ.)   25 mA     40 mA       25 mA        40 mA
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------
          Write (typ.)   25 mA     45 mA       25 mA        45 mA
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------
Packages                   CompactFlash      PC Card Standard (Type-II)
                           specification           specification
                        42.8 x 36.4 x 5.0 mm    54.0 x 85.6 x 5.0 mm
---------------------- -----------------------------------------------

About Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc.

Hitachi Semiconductor (America) Inc. -- a subsidiary of Hitachi America, Ltd., in turn a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT) -- supports the requirements of the North American marketplace with a broad range of standard and low-power semiconductor solutions. Offering some of the industry's most popular RISC microprocessors and memory components among other semiconductor solutions, Hitachi provides chips to the world's leading device manufacturers within industrial, consumer and emerging market applications. Hitachi's substantial design engineering, research and development facilities in the United States help bring the world's best technology to U.S. customers.

Reader Contact

Readers can find additional product and contact information on Hitachi Semiconductor's website at http://www.hitachi.com/semiconductor or by calling 800/285-1601.

CompactFlash and CF are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation and are licensed to the CFA (CompactFlash Association). Hitachi is a member of the CFA. MultiMediaCard is a trademark of Infineon Technologies AG of Germany SuperH is a registered trademark of Hitachi, Ltd.