News Releases

08/21/2000

Hitachi and Wyle Systems Deliver Superior Hard Disk Technology and Support to U.S. Storage Market

Aug 21, 2000 08:27 AM

Hitachi Partners with Wyle Systems to Meet Growing Storage Demand with a Robust Range of High-Performance Hard Disk Drives

BRISBANE, Calif., http://www.hitachi.us/, August 21, 2000 - Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd. (NYSE: HIT), Tokyo, Japan, and Wyle Systems, LLC, VEBA Electronics Group Member, announced the appointment of Wyle Systems as an authorized distributor for Hitachi Hard Disk Drives (HDD) throughout the United States. Wyle Systems, a leading international distributor of computer systems and storage solutions, offers direct sales and design-in assistance to OEMs, VARs and resellers for Hitachi's full line of 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch HDD drives.

"Wyle Systems is a well established and reputable distributor that will help broaden our disk drive distribution to meet today's growing need for storage products with top-quality and high-performance drives from Hitachi," said Gary Galusha, vice president of North American Hard Disk Drives sales. "We look forward to a strong partnership with Wyle Systems and are confident that its established presence coupled with Hitachi's family of high-performance drives will ensure Hitachi is at the forefront of the storage market."

Currently, Hitachi's HDD offerings include 2.5-inch mobile HDD and 3.5-inch SCSI and Fibre Channel HDD offerings. Available 2.5-inch drives for notebook computers range from 5 GB to 20 GB. The newest of these use state-of-the-art component technologies to provide higher data density and faster data throughput. Hitachi's 3.5-inch family of drives deliver more capacity and a diversity of interface options with up to 73.9 GB capacities. These drives use Ultra 160 SCSI and Fibre Channel interfaces and are designed for high throughput operating environments, such as network and Internet servers, multimedia product and digital video processing.

With a network of more than 100 knowledgeable field sales professionals in 35 Wyle Systems locations worldwide, Hitachi and Wyle Systems will focus on the SCSI and Fibre Channel hard disk drives for the RAID, SAN and enterprise storage markets. Additionally, Wyle Systems offers its customers complete solutions with value added support through its Technology Solutions Center in Phoenix, Ariz.

"Hitachi's long standing reputation for technical excellence and innovation made our decision to become a Hitachi distributor simple," said William McMahon, CEO at Wyle Systems. "We look for strong and reliable partners to supply us with the technology needed to meet and exceed our customers' needs and with Hitachi products, we are confident that need will be easily met."

Hitachi America, Ltd., a subsidiary of Hitachi, Ltd., markets and manufactures a broad range of electronics, computer systems and products, consumer electronics and semiconductors, and provides industrial equipment and services throughout North America. For more information, visit http://www.hitachi.us/.

Hitachi America, Ltd., Computer Division, supplies high-performance computer storage products and multimedia products to OEMs, value-added resellers, system integrators and distributors. The division's products include high-capacity hard disk drives and DVD-ROM and -RAM drives, digital multimedia recorders, hand-held computers, LCD projectors, CRT monitors, color laser beam printers and flat panel and plasma displays.

Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1999 (ended March 31, 2000) consolidated sales of 8,001 billion yen ($75.5 billion*). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.

*At an exchange rate of 121 yen to the dollar.

Wyle Systems, LLC, VEBA Electronics Group Member, is a leading international distributor of computer systems and storage solutions and a provider of value-added services. Our knowledgeable sales representatives and system engineers provide custom solutions for any computing environment from a network of 35 sales locations across the United States and Europe. Wyle Systems is focused on finding the best application solutions and value added services for customers and business partners. For more information on Wyle Systems visit our website at www.wylesystems.com or call 800/332-6995.

*At an exchange rate of 121 yen to the dollar.