FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FEDERAL COURT DISMISSES SHAREHOLDER CLASS ACTION SUITS AGAINST READ-RITE

MILPITAS, CA - March 7, 2000 -- Read-Rite Corporation (Nasdaq: RDRT) today announced that the U.S. District Court in San Jose has dismissed the two federal class action lawsuits filed against Read-Rite and certain of its officers and directors. In one suit, covering a class of plaintiffs who purchased Read-Rite stock during the period from April 19, 1995 through January 22, 1996, the court's order precludes the plaintiffs from refiling their case. The other class action, covering a group of plaintiffs who purchased Read-Rite stock during the period from March 2, 1996 through June 2, 1996, was also dismissed, but the judge's decision gave the plaintiffs in this case thirty (30) days to file an amended complaint in an attempt to remedy deficiencies in their prior pleadings.

"We are obviously delighted with the decision," said Cyril Yansouni, chairman and chief executive officer, "We have always believed that the Company, its officers and its directors had meritorious defenses in these actions."

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.

# # # #