Accolades Roll in for Hitachi High-Performance Notebook Hard Drive; Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 Lauded by IT Magazine, PC Market and Others

Business Wire, March 1, 2006

HONG KONG -- Hitachi Global Storage Technologies today announced that its Travelstar 7K100 product has been named the '2.5-inch hard drive of the year' by IT Magazine(1) and the '2005 most powerful 2.5-inch ATA hard drive' by PC Market. In evaluating the 7K100, the magazines agree the drive's unmatched performance was the critical factor in landing these awards.

IT Magazine said, "With the excellent performance in the aspects of retail price, image of the brand and stability of products, Hitachi was named the 2.5-inch hard drive of the year."

In recommending the 7K100 for laptop upgrades and calling it the "most powerful 2.5-inch ATA hard drive," PC Market gave the drive the 2005 IT award in the Editor's Choice category for 'Outstanding Data Storage Device.' PC Market editors also noted that the Travelstar 7K100 ATA version outperforms the competition's comparable SATA hard drive.

As the only second-generation 7200 RPM 2.5-inch hard drive, the Hitachi Travelstar 7K100 is in a class by itself, a fact validated by the series of prestigious awards the drive has received since its May 2005 introduction. The powerful 7K100, together with its predecessor, the 7K60, has been acknowledged by more than a dozen publications for performance and reliability leadership in product reviews around the globe. Hitachi introduced the world's first 7200 RPM 2.5-inch product in 2003 with the Travelstar 7K60 and has since led the industry in high-performance notebook hard drive.

In addition to industry-leading performance, the Travelstar 7K100 has been significant as an accelerator of two trends: 1) notebooks as desktop-replacements and 2) notebook hard drive upgrades.

"The 7K100 and 7K60 are category-defining products that have made powerful mobile computing possible," said Bill Healy, senior vice president, corporate strategy and marketing, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "These awards from IT Magazine and PC Market are also representative of the customer response we've had on our high-performance Travelstar product line and validate the vision that Hitachi had in bringing these products to market."

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is a storage technology leader, founded in 2003 through the combination of Hitachi's and IBM's hard disk drive businesses. Hitachi GST enables users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing high-value hard drives in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home.

With its legacy in hard drive invention, Hitachi GST will lead the industry in celebrating the hard drive's golden anniversary in 2006. After five decades of innovation, the hard drive has had a profound effect on the computing and consumer electronics industries. That heritage lives on at Hitachi GST through products that define the standard for hard drive miniaturization, capacity, performance and reliability.

With more than 27,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance servers, notebooks and consumer devices. For more information, please visit the company's web site at www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE:HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 347,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2004 (ended March 31, 2005) consolidated sales totaled 9,027.0 billion yen ($84.4 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 website at http://www.hitachi.com.

(1) IT Magazine changed its name from PC Magazine in November 2005. The magazine awarded the Hitachi 7K100 the "2.5-inch hard drive of the year" recognition in its December 1, 2005 issue.