DVD-RAM will be here in 3 months for $799. DVx, where are you?...............
Panasonic First to Deliver DVD-RAM Drives; Available in
the U.S. and Japan in January '98
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 28, 1997--Matsushita Electric, best known for its
Panasonic brand products, announced today that it will be the first company to deliver
state-of-the-art DVD-RAM drives and discs to market. The Panasonic LF-D101 internal drive with
SCSI interface -- which features the ability to both read from and write to discs with a maximum,
double-sided capacity of 5.2 gigabytes -- will be available in the United States and Japan in January
1998. The DVD-RAM drive will have a suggested retail price of $799 in the U.S. Panasonic
DVD-RAM discs will be available at the same time as the LF-D101 drive. The enclosed cartridge,
double-sided disc, with a capacity of 5.2 gigabytes, will retail for $39.95. The 2.6-gigabyte
capacity, single-sided disc, which is designed to allow the media to be removed from its cartridge,
will retail for $24.95. The cost per megabyte of data storage is less than one cent ($.01). By
switching between 650 nanometer (nm) and 780 nm wavelength lasers and two objective lenses, the
Panasonic DVD-RAM drive can write to and read from a wide range of optical disc formats. It can
write to DVD-RAM and PD discs, and can read from all of the discs currently accepted by the
following devices/players: DVD-RAM, DVD-ROM, DVD video, DVD-R, PD, CD-Audio,
CD-ROM, CD-R, CD-RW and video CD. All new Panasonic DVD-ROM drives will have
DVD-RAM read capability. The DVD-RAM system's versatile read-compatability is made
possible by the world's first DVD integrated optical pickup device, which was developed within
Matsushita Electric, and a signal processing LSI that uses a 32-bit RISC microprocessor. In Japan,
Matsushita has received 620 patents for its DVD-RAM drive. In the United States and other
countries, 120 patents have either been granted to the company or are pending. DVD-RAM
technology has been developed in response to the need for a larger capacity removable data storage
device to accommodate the increased use of multimedia applications, including full motion video,
color images and digital audio. In the future, this core rewritable technology will be applied to the
development of DVD video recorders. Panasonic will soon make available a variety of application
software, including file back-up, MPEG1 software encoding and MPEG1 file editing software. In
the U.S., Panasonic Computer Peripheral Company will begin shipping Panasonic DVD-RAM
drives in January 1998. A unit of Panasonic Communications & Systems Company, it is based in
Secaucus, N.J. One of the leading suppliers of CD-ROM drives to U.S. personal computer
manufacturers, Panasonic Industrial Company expects to provide DVD-RAM drives to OEM
customers in the computer industry following shipment of Panasonic brand drives in January.
Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE:MC) is one of the world's largest manufacturers of
CD-ROM drives and other digital electronics products. Worldwide, Matsushita has more than
270,000 employees and recorded sales of $61.9 billion during the past fiscal year. The company's
principal North American subsidiary, Matsushita Electric Corp. of America, markets products under
the Panasonic, Quasar and Technics brand names. Matsushita Electric subsidiaries and affiliates in
North America employ over 20,000 people in the U.S., Mexico, Canada and Puerto Rico.
CONTACT: Panasonic Corporate News Center
Matsushita Electric Corporation of America
Denise Yacullo, 201/392-6159
Kurt Praschak, 201/392-6124
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