BACKGROUND

12th October 2011 - Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced that production of hard drives in its facilities close to Bangkok, Thailand, will be constrained in the current quarter due to the severe flooding in Thailand. The flooding is causing problems with the region's infrastructure, including transportation and utilities, and has resulted in the inundation of some supplier facilities and employee homes. The company is gratified to report that its approximately 37,000 Thailand-based employees are deemed safe at this time.

The company is working with its suppliers to maximize throughput and availability of parts in order to best meet the needs of its customers

In the quarter ending July 1, 2011, WD shipped approximately 54 million hard drives from its facilities in Thailand and Malaysia, with approximately 60 percent coming from its Thailand sites. The company's Thailand operations source much of its supply of components from local suppliers.

While WD's facilities in Thailand are operational, production has been suspended on a temporary basis to protect its employees and its facilities and equipment against water ingress. The company indicated that conditions associated with the continued flooding are evolving quickly and the extent of the impact on its operations in Thailand cannot yet be fully determined. The company will provide further updates on the situation, including on its investment community conference call on Wednesday, October 19, 2011.

17th October 2011 - Western Digital Corp. (NYSE: WDC) today announced that it has extended the suspension of its operations in Thailand. Over the weekend, rising water penetrated the Bang Pa-in Industrial Park flood defenses, inundating the company's manufacturing facilities there and submerging some equipment. At the other company manufacturing location in Thailand, Navanakorn Industrial Park, the park flood defenses were breached on Monday morning local time and water has begun to flow into the park threatening the company's facilities there. All WD employees in Thailand remain safe.

The company's other facilities in Malaysia, Singapore and the U.S. are fully operational. The company now expects that the flooding of its Thailand facilities, combined with flood damage to the company's supply chain in Thailand, will have significant impact on the company's overall operations and its ability to meet customer demand for its products in the December quarter.

Other Manufacturer's are also affected, combining in a global shortage of Hard Disk Drive production and supply

Seagate

October 12, 2011 - Seagate Technology plc (NASDAQ: STX) today provided an update to its operations in Thailand in light of the severe flooding in the region.

Currently, all Seagate factories in Thailand are operational and there are no logistical issues with employees reaching its factories. However, the hard disk drive component supply chain is being disrupted and it is expected that certain components in the supply chain will be constrained. Given the volatility of the situation it is unclear what the magnitude of the supply chain disruption will be to Seagate's hard disk drive output from its Thailand operations.

Seagate is actively managing its supply chain and factory output to align production capabilities and optimize its build schedule to meet customer requirements. As a result of the disruption caused by the floods, Seagate anticipates hard drive supply will be constrained throughout the current quarter.

This devastating natural disaster has tragically taken hundreds of lives and displaced many families. At this time, Seagate reports that all of its employees in the region are safe.

The situation is dynamic, and circumstances can change quickly and frequently. Seagate will provide further updates on its quarterly conference call on Thursday, October 20, 2011.

Hitachi

Whilst Hitachi's factories are not submerged, access to them is very limited. Some of Hitachi's component manufacturers & motor suppliers are currently not producing any products in Thailand, but Hitachi are hoping to move production to the Philippines asap. They have a limited supply of finished goods, & currently are not shipping any Hard Disk Drives.

Toshiba

Toshiba Storage Device (Thailand), Co., Ltd.

Location: Navanakorn Industrial Estate Zone, Pathumtani, Thailand

Main Product: Hard Disk Drive

• Damage status: The water is 2 meters high on the site and the surrounding area and more than 1 meter deep in the buildings. Facilities are damaged but no employees have been injured in the factory.
• Alternative sites: We have started alternative production at other factories, but the production volume will be limited by available capacity.
• Operation: All the employees have been evacuated from the industrial zone, at the order of the Thai government. With the water at its current level, we anticipate a long-term shutdown. The date of resumption of operation is unpredictable.

We will continue our best efforts to minimize impacts.

Thank you for your understanding in this matter.

PRODUCTS AFFECTED

Hard Disk Drives, and the supply of Components to manufacture Hard Disk Drives

EFFECT

In order for us to protect our business, and therefore the jobs of our employees, we must maintain our position to be able to manufacture and supply our range of Multi-Award Winning 3XS Systems.

As a result of this, we must restrict the sales of Hard Disk Drives to ensure we have drives with which to populate Systems sold, therefore the sale of Hard Disk Drives will be, for the time being, and until such times as we are able to relax the restriction, will be limited to 2 (TWO) Hard Drive Per Order.

Sales of Multi Drive 'NAS' Boxes will continue to be allowed, with the maximum number of drives to be sold with a NAS equal to the number of Drive Bays in the specific NAS Device, and these MUST be ordered at the same time ond on the same invoice.

With all hard drives going into a state of 'severe constraint' we have already seen a dramatic rise in costs for any available stock for us to buy, and we are faced with no choice other than to buy what we can, at the best price currently available, and set our sell prices in accordance with our current costs. This of course in turn has resulted in price rises across the board on all hard drives, however these are still in line with the market and our competitors, as we are all in this same position.

We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience caused in this troubling time, and ask for your patience and understanding whilst we continue to operate through it. Our thoughts, of course, go out to everyone over in Thailand affected by this situation, and we hope for a speedy resolution to the problem. At this time, we are unsure as to how long the supply of Hard Disk Drives is likely to be affected, and we, like you, are in the hands of others. We will continue to provide updates on the situation as we receive more news.