IRVINE, Calif. - Jan. 9, 2001 - Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC), capitalizing on recent industry-leading hard drive achievements, continues to execute its strategy to apply its extensive intellectual property into multiple, emerging markets for personal storage with the appointment of Bill Frank to chief technology officer and vice president of research and development engineering and the appointment of Hossein Moghadam to vice president of HDA (Hard Disk Assemblies) engineering and manager of the Company's San Jose facility. Both appointments are effective immediately

"The vision of Mr. Frank and Mr. Moghadam extends the performance and efficiency of today's hard drives into many other future computing and entertainment devices that benefit from cost-effective personal storage," said Matt Massengill, Western Digital president and chief executive officer. "Leading one of the best engineering staffs in the industry, their objectives include taking full advantage of Western Digital's vast intellectual property in storage technologies and bridging those capabilities into new market opportunities. In special situations, developments blossom into separate, independent subsidiaries pursuing success in diverse markets."

Western Digital recently announced the formation of Keen Personal Media™, a new subsidiary that provides interactive broadband software, services and hardware for television and Internet content management and television-based electronic commerce. Keen PM applies Western Digital's storage expertise, among other technologies, to this new burgeoning market. Western Digital previously launched subsidiaries Connex™, which develops and markets software and hardware for centrally managed network storage solutions, and SageTree™, which offers packaged analytical software applications and professional services to help manufacturers manage quality throughout the entire supply chain and product lifecycle - another core competency of Western Digital.

With a career spanning three decades, Frank has dedicated more than 20 years to Western Digital. He has been chief systems architect for the past seven years, and has held various engineering, marketing and senior management positions.

Frank is responsible for Western Digital's overall technology roadmap, focusing on areas that propel its core strengths into new business opportunities. His insight will drive a cohesive technology strategy across all Western Digital business segments.

Frank's accomplishments are many, including the invention of the IDE (Integrated Drive Electronics) standard. He has numerous patents to his credit.

Moghadam will report to Frank and is responsible for leading the design and development of HDA, including mechanics, heads, disks and servo system, as well as overseeing operation of the company's San Jose facility.

Moghadam contributes more than 25 years of executive-level computer-storage and high-tech experience to Western Digital. His background consists of many industry-leadership positions, including nine years with Seagate Technology where he was the senior vice president and chief technology officer responsible for all of Seagate's disk drive research and development. Moghadam holds several U.S. patents and has been the recipient of many industry awards including the Control Data Corporation Technical Excellence award.

"Moghadam possesses an impeccable track record of industry-leading innovation," Frank added. "Together with our executive engineering team, including Bill Johns, vice president of engineering programs and new business, and Bob Caddy, vice president of LSI and software engineering, we are inspired by the promise of Western Digital's intellectual talent and the growing number of applications for its core technologies."

About Western Digital

One of the data storage industry's longtime leaders, Western Digital Corporation has leveraged its core strengths in becoming a leading Internet solutions company. Western Digital provides services and products to manage, store and communicate both digital content and network intelligence. The Company remains an industry-leading designer and manufacturer of hard drives for desktop computers and home entertainment applications.

Western Digital was founded in 1970. The Company's storage products are marketed to leading systems manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital brand name. Its home page can be found at www.westerndigital.com.

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