Hitachi Expands Personal Storage

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Intending to capitalize on the growing personal USB-attached storage segment of the hard disk drive (HDD) market, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi) today announced an expanded retail strategy with the launch of Hitachi-branded personal storage products: External USB Storage and Portable USB Storage. These products will be sold through Best Buy, the largest electronics retailer in the U.S.

Available on June 3, 2007 in Best Buy stores, Hitachi's external storage products make it easy for consumers to have expanded storage capacity for saving and backing up their most important digital content including video, music and photos. Hitachi's USB storage, coined the "easy hard drive," features a range of capacities including the industry's first one terabyte(1) (TB) in a single HDD and a quarter terabyte in the portable product. Both products come with fast USB connectivity and pre-installed software, making it quick and easy for users to connect and back up their digital content. The External USB Storage product also comes with a power adapter. The Portable USB Storage product is powered through the USB cable and requires no separate power source.

"Personal USB-attached storage products represent a burgeoning and healthy segment of the hard disk drive market and we are forecasting that it will continue to grow into the next decade," said John Monroe, research vice president, Storage Markets at Gartner. "Consumers who purchase personal storage products are more often opting for higher capacities. People generally want multiple copies of the irreplaceable 'family photo album' and a large hard disk drive gives them sufficient storage space for the device to serve as a repository for the entire household's digital content."

With the launch of the USB storage products, Hitachi has expanded its participation in the retail market adding to its current line of internal hard drive upgrade kits. It had previously partnered with other vendors for personal storage products.

"Consumers' enthusiasm for creating and sharing digital content is driving a huge demand for personal storage products that they can use to expand their capacity and back up their most valued data," said Shinjiro Iwata, chief marketing officer, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. "The time is right for Hitachi to enter this growing segment with our own branded products. By teaming with Best Buy, we have an opportunity to reach those digital content enthusiasts whose appetites for storage exceed what's available today. Our one-terabyte and quarter-terabyte personal storage products can satisfy even the most capacity-hungry consumer."Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST)