FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MILPITAS, CA - April 26, 1999 -- Read-Rite Corporation (Nasdaq: RDRT) today announced qualification of its pico MR head gimbal assemblies (HGAs) and head stack assemblies (HSAs) for Samsung's SpinPoint performance oriented 7200 RPM 4.55 gigabyte per platter desktop program. Volume production at Read-Rite's Philippines head stack assembly will begin in May, with shipments to Samsung's manufacturing plant in Kumi, Korea.
"We are pleased to be the launch supplier for Samsung on this 7200 RPM program that incorporates pico form factor head gimbal assemblies and a new four disk head stack assembly," said Alan S. Lowe, president and chief operating officer. "This qualification demonstrates the strong developmental team effort between the two companies as we proceed on the fifth consecutive MR program with Samsung. The four disk platform development effort assists both companies with future GMR pico technology programs. We look forward to supporting Samsung on this high performance desktop drive," he added.
Read-Rite Corporation is one of the world's leading independent manufacturers of recording heads, head gimbal assemblies (HGAs) and head stack assemblies (HSAs) for disk drives and magnetoresistive heads for 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.
This news release contains statements which include forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Act of 1934, as amended, and is subject to the . safe harbor. created by those sections. These statements include, but are not limited to: that the company plans on using elements of this new GMR design in customer products next year; and that the company anticipates that this new design will be extendable beyond 30 gigabits per square inch. The company. s actual results for future periods could differ materially from those projected in such forward-looking information. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include, but are not limited to: the company may be unsuccessful in incorporating elements of this new design in GMR products its sells to its customers; the company may not succeed in extending the areal density beyond 20.9 gigabits per square inch; and the other factors described in the company. s reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 1998 and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the first and second quarter of Fiscal Year 1999 ended December 27, 1998 and March 28, 1999 respectively. Read-Rite undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of such statements.