Monday March 19, 9:03 am Eastern Time
Press Release
SanDisk to Supply SD Cards for Palm's First
Handheld Computers Using Removable Memory
Cards
SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 19, 2001--SanDisk Corporation (Nasdaq:SNDK - news) today
announced that it is supplying Palm, Inc. with Secure Digital (SD) flash memory cards for the two new Palm(TM) handheld
computers, the Palm m500 and m505 handhelds, introduced earlier today.
The new Palm m500 series features an expansion slot for removable SD cards, providing consumers with an expandable
storage option for data, backup files, digital music and other valuable content such as e-books, e-maps, and video. Because of
the broad acceptance of SD media, the cards can be shared among a variety of SD-enabled consumer products, such as
printers, digital cameras and MP3 players.
Palm's expansion-card slot technology adds greatly to the flexibility of the Palm platform by providing the means to add future
expansion modules, such as modems, Bluetooth, GPS, digital cameras, barcode scanners and MP3 players. As a founding
member of the SD Association, SanDisk has been instrumental in establishing the SD and SDIO (SD Input/Output)
specifications. SanDisk is working closely with Palm, which co-chairs the SDIO committee, to establish SDIO as a standard
for extending the capabilities of consumer products.
Palm will be exhibiting the Palm m500 series handhelds with SanDisk-supplied SD cards at the annual CeBIT trade show,
where SanDisk is also demonstrating products at the Hannover Convention Center in Hall 13, Stand 84.
Byron Connell, vice president, Product Management and Planning, Palm, Inc., said, ``The merits of the SD card -- its small
size, broad adoption as a standard, power efficiency, low cost, fast transfer rates and support for I/O -- made it the best choice
for our expansion slot. SanDisk's expertise helped us optimize our dual expansion architecture. With continued support from
SanDisk and the SD Association, we intend to strongly promote the SD card standard as the preferred choice for expandable
performance, durability and content security.''
Nelson Chan, senior vice president of worldwide marketing and sales at SanDisk, said, ``I am proud of the close cooperation
we have established with Palm and excited about their great new products. Palm's embracing of the SD platform and SanDisk's
SD cards will, we believe, be a transforming event for the handheld market and adds greatly to the rising momentum for the SD
card as a universal card standard.''
SanDisk participates in Palm's PluggedIn Program and has been qualified to use the Designed for Palm Handhelds logo to let
customers know that SanDisk SD cards will work with Palm m500 series handhelds. SanDisk also will roll out special
marketing activities in select retail channels worldwide to promote the benefits of selecting SanDisk SD cards when purchasing
a Palm m500 series handheld.
SD Card Background
The postage stamp-size SD card is available in 8, 16, 32 and 64MB versions, with plans for significantly higher capacities in the
future. Proprietary security functions have also been incorporated into the SD card that facilitate the secure exchange of content
between host devices and the card. The security technology has been designed to comply with the Secure Digital Music
Initiative (SDMI), making it an ideal solution for the transfer of digital content such as music and books.
The SD Memory Card was introduced in August, 1999, by Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE:MC - news), best
known by its Panasonic brand name, SanDisk and Toshiba Corp. The SD Association, which already has more than 225
member companies, is an industry-wide association created to set industry standards for the card and promote its wide
acceptance in digital applications including Internet music players, Internet appliances, cellular phones, digital still cameras,
digital video cameras, handheld computers, automotive systems, set-top boxes and other products.
SanDisk Corporation, the world's largest supplier of flash data storage products, designs, manufactures and markets
industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio storage products using its patented, high density flash memory and
controller technology. 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-Q filed with the Securities and
Exchange Commission. The company assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.
All trade names are either registered trademarks or trademarks of their respective holders. Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or
its subsidiaries.
SanDisk's web site/home page address: sandisk.com
Contact:
SanDisk
Bob Goligoski, 408/542-0463
bgoligoski@sandisk.com
or
Mike Wong, 408/548-0223
mwong@sandisk.com |
