Hitachi Rolls Out Privilege Program in China for Hard Disk Drive Partners
Thur 17 May, 2007

New Initiative Extends Hitachi’s Hard Disk Drive Channel Partner Network, Aims To Capture Fast-Growing I-Café Market

BEIJING, China, May 16, 2007 – Hitachi Global Storage Technologies (Hitachi GST) today launched a new Partners Privilege program aimed at strengthening its channel partner network and capturing the rapidly expanding i-café (Internet café) market opportunity across the country. The latest in the hard disk drive firm’s ongoing channel loyalty programs in China, Hitachi GST’s Partners Privilege program (HPP) was kicked off during a national tour to Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

Under the new HPP program, Hitachi partners such as channel resellers, i-café resellers, and i-café system integrators can earn points and redeem gifts by selling eligible Hitachi desktop hard disk drive products.

Hitachi has selected the Deskstar 7K160 drive as the HPP highlighted desktop product due to its high reliability, outstanding performance and quiet operation, all of which make it ideal for the i-café market.

Mr. Robert Chu, vice president, Asia Pacific, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, said during the national tour, “We see many new opportunities opening up in China and continuously strive to reinforce our network with partners and reseller channels across the country. By rolling out the HPP program, we can help our channel partners to seek and identify more business opportunities, tap fast-growing markets and thus, boost their hard disk drive sales in China.”

Hitachi selected i-café as one of the key target segments for its HPP due to the huge growth potential it represents. Xinhua news agency estimated China’s i-café industry to be worth US$3.2 billion. There are more than 130,000 licensed i-cafés in China, some of which are huge with almost 400 desktop computers in a single café. According to China Internet Network Information Center, one-third of China’s 137 million Internet users access the Net at i-cafés at least part of the time, as less than 30 percent of families own a computer, even in China’s bigger cities.

“Hitachi’s Partners Privilege program is a great initiative to help channel partners like us to explore China’s new segments. For instance, i-cafés have become big business throughout the country and represent huge potential for the hard disk drive industry,” said Mr. Miky Lin, vice president, Information Business Division, Weikeng Industrial Co. Ltd. Mr. Jason Chen, general manager, Orbbit International Corp., added, “Through the HPP program we can explore and reach thriving business sectors such as i-cafés and maximize many other market opportunities.”

Hitachi will selectively invite channel partners to become HPP members; they can then earn points and redeem gifts upon selling eligible Hitachi desktop hard disk drive products. To facilitate the points earning and redemption process, Hitachi is rolling out a trilingual (English, Simplified and Traditional Chinese) HPP Internet portal where members can have 24x7 updates on their points status and redeem incentives, including luxury watches, mobile handsets and travel packages for channel partners, and air purifiers and computer video cams for i-café owners.

Hitachi’s national tour is traveling to Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen and includes a two-hour demonstration workshop for around 100 channel resellers in each city. Other Asian markets may seek to replicate the HPP program in the future.

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.

Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT / TSE: 6501), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 356,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2005 (ended March 31, 2006) consolidated sales totaled 9,464 billion yen ($80.9 billion). The company offers a wide range of systems, products and services in market sectors including information systems, electronic devices, power and industrial systems, consumer products, materials and financial services. For more information on Hitachi, please visit the company's website at http://www.hitachi.com.