Agere Systems Ships TrueStore(TM) Storage Chips to Magicstor for High-Capacity Mobile Disk Drives
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Agere Systems Ships TrueStore(TM) Storage Chips to Magicstor for High-Capacity Mobile Disk Drives

Agere read-channels power 1.8-inch and 1.0-inch drives to address high-growth consumer electronics storage market

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Aug. 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Agere Systems today announced that it is shipping its TrueStore(TM) low-power read-channel chip to leading hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturer GS Magicstor for use in its new 1.8-inch drives. Agere is also providing chips for Magicstor's 1.0-inch drive, which is among the smallest currently shipping in the industry. With these engagements, Agere is now the primary supplier of read-channels to Magicstor for the fast-growing small-form-factor HDD market.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20040618/AGERELOGO )

Magicstor is using Agere's TrueStore RC6500LP read-channels in miniature drive designs for laptops and mobile consumer electronics devices, delivering the capacities needed to store thousands of music files and digital photos, hours of digital video and advanced software applications.

Agere's read-channel chip has been specifically designed for storage in portable PC and handheld consumer devices, and offers industry-leading speed, signal reliability and battery life required by such applications. By enabling higher capacity, cost-effective and compact drives, Agere's chip allows device manufacturers to replace flash memory storage in media players and PDAs with hard disk drive storage.

"Magicstor has established itself as a premier provider of storage solutions for the mobile market, delivering a broad product line of high- performance miniature drives," said David Wu, CEO of GS Magicstor. "Using Agere's low-power read-channel, our hard disk drives are able to serve a broad range of mobile hardware devices, allowing users to take their digital content with them anywhere."

With the explosive demand for advanced applications in portable consumer electronics, small-form-factor HDDs represent the fastest growing segment of the storage market. Industry analyst firm IDC expects that the number of 1.x (1.8, 1.0 and 0.85-inch) drives will top 37 million by 2008, with a 62 percent compound annual growth rate from 2003 through 2008. Agere has design wins with every manufacturer of 1.0-inch drives currently shipping in the market today.

"Agere continues to make inroads in the mobile storage market with our signature read-channel technology," said Joe O'Hare, vice president of Agere's Storage division. "Our chip's combination of high data rate, low power consumption and signal integrity offers the right ingredients for improving the storage capabilities in mobile products, from notebook PCs to handheld consumer electronics."

Small-scale HDDs offer significant flexibility for notebook PC manufacturers and portable consumer electronics providers alike. When compared with larger, 2.5-inch drives typically found in laptops, 1.8-inch drives free up additional space on the motherboard and consume less power. For handheld consumer device manufacturers looking to incorporate such multiple high-capacity functions as video recording, mega-pixel digital photography, and expansive digital music libraries, 1.8-inch and 1.0-inch HDDs offer better cost-per-gigabyte storage than today's flash memory. With fast read/write operating speeds, HDDs also offer better performance and power efficiency for managing large multimedia files.

In addition to delivering superior signal-to-noise ratio performance for higher storage capacity, Agere's RC6500LP enables transfer rates up to 900 megabits-per-second for nimble data access. The chip also is tailored specifically to the power and size requirements of portable consumer electronics drives. The RC6500LP offers four power modes - running, idle, standby and sleep -- with a power savings of up to 50 percent over previous generation Agere read-channels, depending on the mode and operating speed. The package size is 50 percent smaller than comparable solutions. These speed, power and size benefits ensure that compact drives can provide the performance required to expand the market for high-capacity storage in portable consumer electronics products.

Agere is currently shipping the RC6500LP to Magicstor in volume quantities.

About Agere Systems

Agere Systems is a global leader in semiconductors for storage, wireless data, and public and enterprise networks. The company's chips and software power a broad range of computing and communications applications, from cell phones, PCs, PDAs, hard disk drives and gaming devices to the world's most sophisticated wireless and wireline networks. Agere's customers include the top manufacturers of consumer electronics, communications and computing equipment. Agere's products connect people to information and entertainment at home, at work and on the road -- making personal broadband a reality.

For more information, customers may visit Agere's Web site at http://www.agere.com/ or contact one of Agere's regional sales offices. Customers in the U.S. may also call the Agere Systems Customer Response Center at 1-800-372-2447. Customers in Canada may call 1-800-553-2448. Customers outside those countries may call 1-610-712-4323. Fax inquiries may be directed to 1-610-712-4106, or e-mail queries to Email Contact. Written inquiries should be sent to Agere Systems, Room 10A-301C, 1110 American Parkway NE, Lehigh Valley Central Campus, Allentown, PA, 18109, USA.

Agere is a registered trademark and TrueStore, Agere Systems and the Agere Systems logo are trademarks of Agere Systems Inc.

This release contains forward-looking statements based on information currently available to Agere. Agere's actual results could differ materially from the results stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, our ability to keep pace with technological change, our dependence on new product development, price and product competition, availability of manufacturing capacity, customer demand for our products and services, general industry and market conditions, and our reliance on major customers and suppliers. For a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003, and our quarterly report on Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2004. Agere disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT: Glen Haley, +1-610-712-1747, cell, +1-610-217-0781,
Email Contact or Vibha Agrawal, +1-610-712-1737, cell, +1-908-256-6234,
Email Contact, both of Agere Systems

Web site: http://www.agere.com/