FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
MILPITAS, CA -- August 10, 1999 -- Read-Rite Corporation (Nasdaq: RDRT) today announced that John T. Kurtzweil has been appointed senior vice president and will continue to report to Cyril J. Yansouni, chairman and CEO of the company. Mr. Kurtzweil will continue with his responsibilities as the company's chief financial officer along with expanded responsibilities, which now include the Information Systems Group and the Legal Department.
"John's extensive experience in this industry, both on the drive and component side of the business, has been very beneficial in helping the company in setting its technology and manufacturing strategies as we move forward," said Yansouni. Mr. Kurtzweil has been with Read-Rite for four years and in the disk drive industry for over 11 years. Prior to joining Read-Rite, he held various positions at Maxtor Corporation and Honeywell Inc.
Mr. Kurtzweil is dual certified as a CMA and a CPA and earned an MBA from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minnesota and a BA in Accounting from Arizona State University in Tempe, Arizona. He is on the Board of Directors for the International Disk Drive Equipment and Materials Association (IDEMA) since 1996, and was named the vice-chairman of IDEMA's Board in 1998.
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 .
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: the company's expectation that shipments will begin in September; and the company's expectation that its renewed relationship with Quantum will continue. 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 ramping HGA production for Quantum; the company may be unsuccessful in obtaining additional design wins for other Quantum desktop and enterprise programs; 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, second and third quarters of Fiscal Year 1999 ended December 27, 1998, March 28, 1999 and June 27, 1999 respectively. Read-Rite undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of such statements.