Hitachi Targets New China Growth With Hard Disk Drive Distributor Partnership
Thur 17 May, 2007

Digital China to Target Fast-growing i-café Segment and Second-, Third-tier Cities

BEIJING, China, May 16, 2007 – Hitachi Global Storage Technologies ( Hitachi ) today announced it has added Digital China Technology Limited as a new distribution partner in China . Digital China, a leading IT services company in China, distributes a vast array of IT products, from personal computing applications to corporate solutions, through a network of almost 10,000 channel partners in China . Its strong network and resources will help position Hitachi for success in emerging hard disk drive (HDD) growth segments.

Hitachi selected Digital China for its penetration in the rapidly expanding i-café (Internet café) segment and strength in China ’s tier-two and tier-three cities. The new partnership covers almost all second- and third-tier cities in China, which together are home to more than 350 million people¹.

Digital China will focus on the distribution of Hitachi HDDs for desktop PCs and servers. Customers, including i-café owners and resellers, will be able to purchase Hitachi HDDs from local partners who are not currently selling these products.

“Hitachi aims to grow share in China’s desktop market, and our partnership with Digital China will boost our distribution network with key elements of this market, including the emerging i-café segment,” said Robert Chu, vice president, Asia Pacific, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies.

“Hitachi is already a major player in China ’s hard disk drive market,” said Mr. Yao Wu, vice president, Digital China. “And we are confident that by providing reliable, targeted solutions for customers in new areas, Digital China and Hitachi can grow together in core market sectors.”

With its unique expertise in the i-café segment and tier two and three cities, Digital China will complement Hitachi ’s existing channel partners including Orbbit and Weikeng.

¹ ‘Decoding the Chinese Consumer: 2006 Annual Survey’, McKinsey & Company

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

Hitachi Global Storage Technologies is a storage technology leader, founded in 2003 through the combination of Hitachi ’s and IBM’s hard disk drive businesses. Hitachi GST enables users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing high-value hard disk storage in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home.

With its legacy in hard drive invention, Hitachi GST led the industry in celebrating the storage technology’s golden anniversary in 2006. The hard drive has had a profound effect on the computing and consumer electronics industries after five decades of innovation. That heritage lives on at Hitachi GST today through products that define the standard for hard drive miniaturization, capacity, performance and reliability.

With approximately 33,000 employees worldwide, Hitachi GST offers a comprehensive range of hard drive products for desktop computers, high-performance servers, notebooks and consumer devices. For more information, please visit the company’s Web site at www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.