FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

READ-RITE ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT WITH FUJITSU TO DEVELOP ADVANCED GMR RECORDING HEADS DESIGNED FOR THE 2.5 INCH PORTABLE DISK DRIVE MARKET

MILPITAS, CA - February 8, 2000 -- Read-Rite Corporation (Nasdaq: RDRT) today announced it has signed an agreement with Fujitsu's Storage Products Group to develop advanced GMR recording heads specifically aimed at 2.5 inch disk drives for portable applications. "We are pleased to be developing heads for Fujitsu, a world-leader in the 2.5 inch data storage market", said Cyril J. Yansouni, chairman and chief executive officer. "This agreement is testament to Read-Rite's technology leadership and provides an excellent vehicle for the migration of this technology to portable disk drive applications which require the highest areal density available. Elements of the technology in our record setting areal density demonstrations have already been incorporated into the most advanced desktop programs currently being shipped to customers. We are very excited about the opportunity to incorporate some of the same elements of our leading-edge technology into GMR heads for 2.5 inch disk drives. Samples of our advanced GMR heads have been provided to Fujitsu, with positive feedback. We look forward to the development agreement with Fujitsu as a first step that will expand our business into the portable disk drive market segment", he added.

 

Read-Rite Corporation is one of the world�s leading independent manufacturers of magnetic recording heads, head gimbal assemblies (HGAs) and head stack assemblies (HSAs) for disk drives and tape drives. The company is headquartered in Milpitas, California and has operations in Japan, Thailand, the Philippines and Singapore. The company�s home page on the world wide web can be reached at http://www.readrite.com.

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