Performance Breakthrough Earns Hitachi Mobile Drive a Maximum PC Magazine Gear-of-Year Award; World's Fastest 2.5-inch Mobile Hard Drive Brings Desktop Speed to Notebooks.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 2, 2003

Calling Hitachi's 7200 RPM mobile hard drive an object of desire for performance aficionados, Maximum PC Magazine today named the Travelstar 7K60 a winner of its annual Gear of the Year award. Specifically, the 7K60 received the Gear of the Year Wildcard(1) award for its industry-leading performance. This recognition underscores Hitachi Global Storage Technologies' unmatched innovations in mobile hard disk drive (HDD) miniaturization and performance. Maximum PC's review can be found in the December 2003 awards issue, currently on newsstands.

Hitachi's 7200 RPM Travelstar is the fastest 2.5-inch mobile HDD and the industry's first mobile drive to meet or exceed the performance of larger 3.5-inch desktop HDDs. Industry analysts believe desktop-equivalent performance will be a key factor in advancing the movement of notebooks as a desktop-replacement solution.

Maximum PC praised Hitachi's mobile technology innovations, citing the new Travelstar's 50 gigabit-per-square-inch areal density, improved shock resistance and reduced power consumption -- all achieved through miniaturization advancements to Hitachi's slider technology. Called the "femto" slider, this critical hard drive component is the tiny flying wing which supports the read/write head above the surface of the disk. The net result, according to Maximum PC labs, is a 55-percent performance improvement over the Travelstar 5400 RPM model, which held the previous mobile hard drive performance record.

"Hitachi's new 7200 RPM mobile drive has finally leveled the playing field between notebook and desktop performance," said Gordon Mah Ung, senior editor, Maximum PC. "The fact that Hitachi has been able to so greatly impact notebook performance with such a tiny component makes it a breakthrough well-deserving of this year's Gear of the Year Wildcard award. Our kudos to Hitachi."

"As an authority on high-performance products, Maximum PC's recognition is strong validation for our efforts toward hard disk drive technology excellence," said Bill Healy, senior vice president of consumer and commercial HDDs, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "We're finding that Maximum PC's excitement for the 7K60 is mirrored in our customers' reactions. These opinions strengthen Hitachi's resolve to continue delighting our audiences and challenging the standard of excellence for the industry."

At 60 gigabytes, the Travelstar 7K60 offers a unique combination of superior performance and capacity, low power consumption and small footprint for a new class of powerful mobile devices.

Since its introduction earlier this year, the Travelstar 7K60 has been recognized by numerous trade magazines and industry experts for its superior performance. Reviews can be viewed at http://www.hgst.com/products/reviews.html.

(1) Maximum PC defines its Wildcard category: "Sometimes we come across a product that absolutely must be recognized in our GOTY (Gear of the Year) compendium, but doesn't quite fit a well-defined category."

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies was founded in 2003 as a result of the strategic combination of Hitachi's and IBM's storage technology businesses. The company's vision is to enable users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing access to large amounts of storage capacity in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home.

The company offers customers worldwide a comprehensive range of storage products for desktop computers, high-performance servers and mobile devices. For more information on Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hgst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE:HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company, with approximately 340,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2002 (ended March 31, 2003) consolidated sales totaled 8,191.7 billion yen ($68.3 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors, including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's Web site at http://www.hitachi.com.