FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FREMONT, CA � October 17, 2001 � Read-Rite Corporation (Nasdaq: RDRT) today announced that it will release its fourth quarter 2001 financial results after the market closes on Tuesday, October 30, 2001.  You are invited to join the webcast and conference call, at 2:00 p.m. PDT (5:00 p.m. EDT).

A digital recording of the conference will be made available approximately two hours after the completion of the call.  The replay will be available to listen to through November 1, 2001.

 Webcast participants will need to complete a brief registration form.  Please allow extra time before the webcast begins to register and, if necessary download and install required software.  (Minimum Requirements to listen to broadcast: The RealPlayer software, downloadable free from www.real.com/products/player/index.html , and at least a 14.4Kbps connection to the Internet.  If you experience problems listening to the broadcast, send an email to webmaster@vdat.com.)

 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 Fremont, California and has operations in California, Thailand, the Philippines, Japan, Singapore and South Korea. The company's website is located at http://www.readrite.com. Read-Rite is also the majority shareholder of Scion Photonics, Inc., an integrated solution provider to the fiber optics industry whose offerings include advanced DWDM products, fiber optic assembly equipment and application specific photonic components. Scion's website is located at http://www.scionphotonics.com.

This release may contain forward-looking statements, which are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to uncertainty and changes in circumstances.  Actual results may vary materially from the expectations contained in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ include the risk factors described in the company's reports filed with the SEC, including, but not limited to, its Annual Report on Form 10-K for fiscal 2000, its Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the first quarter of fiscal 2001 ended December 31, 2000, second quarter of fiscal 2001 ended April 1, 2001 and third quarter of fiscal 2001 ended July 1, 2001.  Read-Rite undertakes no obligation to update forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances occurring after the date of such statements.

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