e.Digital Corporation (fka EDIG)

[niz]

Dell Selects Hitachi Travelstar Hard Drive for New Digital Music Player

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 27, 2003--
Dell Digital Jukebox Stores Hundreds of Hours of High-Quality Digital Music on Hitachi's Mobile Hard Drive


Hitachi Global Storage Technologies today announced it has been selected by Dell as the sole source provider of hard disk drives for Dell's new portable digital music player. The Dell Digital Jukebox, which was also announced today, will feature the Hitachi Travelstar C4K40 1.8-inch hard disk drive. Travelstar hard drives deliver a powerful combination of performance, capacity and energy efficiency in a compact size. The industry-leading drives have been optimized for use in digital music players and other state-of-the-art mobile applications that demand the leadership characteristics of the Travelstar C4K40.

The portable MP3 player market continues to experience robust growth, with the hard drive-based portable jukebox category attracting consumers interested in high device capacities combined with compact form factors. According to IDC Senior Analyst Susan Kevorkian, the worldwide portable MP3 player unit shipments will grow from 11.62 million units in 2002 to 36.64 million units in 2007. With a worldwide CAGR of 40%, the hard drive-based portable jukebox category is expected to experience higher growth rates than the portable flash and portable MP3 CD/MD player categories during the forecast period.

"The hard drive is an absolutely essential component of the Dell DJ," said Tim Mattox, vice president of client product marketing at Dell. "We selected the Hitachi Travelstar drive because it satisfies our customers' demand for portability, high performance and quality."

"Hitachi is pleased to be working with Dell and contributing our expertise in storage miniaturization and mobile hard drive technology," said Bill Healy, senior vice president of consumer and commercial HDDs, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "The substantial capacity of the Travelstar C4K40 will allow Digital Jukebox customers to enjoy hours of high-quality digital music."

The Travelstar C4K40 features a rotational speed of 4,200 rpm, high shock resistance, and low power consumption in both idle and read operations. The mobile drives are a perfect match for laptop computers, digital music players, tablet PCs, handheld computers and other portable consumer electronics.

The Digital Jukebox provides skip-free, high fidelity playback of MP3 or WMA files, and allows digital voice recording, and data backup. The 7.6-ounce unit features a USB 2.0 interface and built-in rechargeable lithium-polymer battery for up to 16 hours of continuous music playback.

For more information on the Dell Digital Jukebox, see www.dell.com.

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.