WD's 320 GB-per-platter Technology is the Basis for WD's Already-Shipping 2.5-inch Drives And the Result of Continued Investments in Technology
Lake Forest, Calif. - Jan. 22, 2008 - WD® (NYSE: WDC) announced today that it is now shipping in volume its WD Caviar® family of 3.5-inch hard drives based on 320 GB-per-platter technology, the same industry-leading storage areal density that the company has been shipping in its 160 GB-per-platter (320 GB capacity) 2.5-inch WD Scorpio™ drives since October 2007.
"Our technology investments and product roadmap execution have resulted in WD shipping the industry's highest areal densities in the industry's two highest volume markets," said Hossein Moghadam, chief technology officer of WD. "Our 250 gigabits-per-square-inch technology already has been reliably serving our 2.5-inch customers, and now it will benefit customers in the 3.5 inch desktop and other product areas."
An initial WD Caviar capacity point of 320 GB is available immediately. The 320 GB-per-platter technology will be deployed across WD's desktop, enterprise, CE and external hard drive product lines, including additional capacity points, throughout this calendar year.
"Our technology leadership strengthens WD's position with customers as the preferred hard drive supplier," said Richard E. Rutledge, senior vice president of marketing for the company. "Delivering new technologies first and within WD's high quality and reliability product standards, on time, in volume and backed by top service gives our customers, partners and suppliers a competitive advantage, as well."
The WD Caviar family of 3.5-inch desktop hard drives delivers high performance with 300 MB/s transfer rate, cache sizes up to 16 MB, Native Command Queuing (NCQ), and cool operating temperatures and quiet operation, enabling customers to integrate WD products in the most demanding desktop and external storage environments.
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 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 (
www.westerndigital.com) to access a variety of financial and investor information.
This press release contains forward-looking statements, including statements relating to the future deployment of 320 GB-per-platter technology across WD's various product lines throughout calendar year 2008, and the benefits that 3.5 inch desktop customers will derive from 250 gigabits-per-square-inch technology. These forward-looking statements are based on current management expectations, and actual results may differ materially as a result of several factors, including: technical and manufacturing challenges; changes in technology; 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 first quarter of 2008. WD undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect new information or events or for any other reason.
(Quelle: Western Digital)
