SanDisk Introduces World's First 2.5 and 3.5 Inch Flash-Based Storage Drives; New FlashDrives Will Replace Disk Drives in Non-PC Applications
Business Wire - March 31, 1998 11:46
CHICAGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31, 1998--SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) today
introduced the world's first 2.5 and 3.5 inch flash-based storage drives. The announcement was made at the
annual Embedded Systems Conference in Chicago, IL, where SanDisk is exhibiting products in various
applications (SanDisk Booth: 1717).
Many non-PC applications such as networking, industrial computers, telecommunications, gaming, military,
avionics and POS (Point-of-Sale) systems require only 100MB or less of storage capacity and are currently
using disk drives with a minimum capacity of 1GB (gigabyte). The SanDisk 2.5 and 3.5 inch FlashDrives fit
into standard disk drive bays and will be available in storage capacities ranging from 10MB to 500MB. These
drive replacements, based on SanDisk flash memory and controller technology, use the industry standard IDE
interface and connect via the same ribbon cable used with standard disk drives. Sampling of new FlashDrives
begins in April, and SanDisk has scheduled volume shipments to start in June.
Jeff Ellerbruch, a SanDisk product manager said, "The new 2.5 and 3.5 inch SanDisk FlashDrives will satisfy
customers by offering highly reliable and low power flash memory in packages to fit standard drive bays. These
FlashDrives will meet lower capacity requirements at a price comparable to what customers pay today for disk
drives. Customers will no longer be forced to deal with the rapid obsolescence of minimum capacity points set
by manufacturers of rotating disk drives."
Ellerbruch stressed that "these new flash-based products have numerous advantages over traditional rotating
disk drives. Flash is much more rugged and reliable because it is solid-state. These FlashDrives, with no
moving parts, consume approximately one-tenth the power of magnetic disk drives, and are 'plug-and-play'
interchangeable with the corresponding rotating drive."
In OEM quantities, both 2.5 and 3.5 inch FlashDrives of 40MB capacities will be priced at $150.
SanDisk Corporation, the world's largest supplier of flash data storage products, designs, manufactures and
markets industry-standard, solid-state data, image and audio storage products using its patented, high density
flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk has strategic alliances with Seagate Technology, Matsushita
Electronic Corp., NEC Corp. and LG Semicon. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA.
The matters discussed in this news release contain forward looking statements that are subject to certain risks
and uncertainties as described under the caption "Risk Factors" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K
and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company
assumes no obligation to update the information in this release. |
