Press Releases

may 8, 2017

New, Robust and Intelligent Addition to the Company’s Automotive Grade Storage Solution Portfolio Designed for Superior Reliability

SAN JOSE, CA — May 8, 2017 — Western Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: WDC), an industry leader in storage technologies, today introduced the company’s most advanced automotive grade solution to date, the iNAND® 7250A embedded flash drive (EFD). Leveraging enhanced flash storage technology for superior reliability, the new SanDisk®-branded storage device is designed to support data demands of the latest “advanced driver-assistance systems” (ADAS), cutting-edge infotainment and safety systems, and other connected technologies in vehicles. It delivers dependable performance even in extreme conditions in and around the vehicle, including ambient temperatures down to -40^oC and up to 105^oC. This makes the robust, new EFD ideal for a wide range of connected automotive systems and environments.

“The shift beyond simple connected automotive applications, such as infotainment, to ADAS and autonomous systems, is spurring rapid growth in the volume and velocity of data on our roadways, as well as the need for more resilient and intelligent storage solutions to manage it,” said Christopher Bergey, vice president of Embedded and Integrated Solutions for Western Digital. “By utilizing enhanced, enterprise-class storage and controller technology, our new iNAND 7250A embedded storage device offers the outstanding reliability and quality that is essential for the automotive industry, smart features that our customers want most and exceptional performance over a wide range of temperatures. It’s well-suited for everything from 3D mapping and vehicle-to-vehicle communications to the high thermal temperatures that can be generated by autonomous driving computing devices and systems in the car.”

The number of vehicles with “connected” systems continues to rise, as does the volume of data generated that must be managed. According to Gartner:

• The total cumulative shipments of automobiles equipped with data connectivity, including those with aftermarket devices attached to the onboard diagnostics (OBD) port, will reach 220 million in 2020;¹
• Embedded communications modules will overtake mobile device tethering as the dominant mode of connectivity for connected cars in 2018;¹
• By 2020 connected and autonomous car data traffic per vehicle may reach over 280 petabytes, or 280 million gigabytes annually. ²

The iNAND 7250A is designed to work with a variety of automotive systems in the vehicle that generate, receive and process data, from increasingly complex infotainment and navigation systems, to diagnostic systems continuously processing analytics, to constantly streaming vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure systems. The new iNAND 7250A also comes with the company’s suite of automotive “smart” features, which include enhanced power failure protection, a comprehensive memory health status monitor, advanced diagnostic tools and more.

Additional Features and Specifications:

• Adheres to ISO26262 design guidelines for nonvolatile memory-based products
• Capacities up to 64GB
• Compliant AEC-Q100 Grade 2 (-40^oC to 105^oC) and AEC-Q100 Grade 3 (-40^oC to +85^oC)
• Built with enhanced enterprise class flash memory and controller
• e.MMC 5.1 specification
• Up to 110MB/s sequential write and up to 300MB/s sequential read³

Samples of the iNAND 7250A EFD are currently available.  The new device joins the company’s family of solutions for the automotive industry, including SanDisk brand automotive grade SD and EFD solutions.

About Western Digital
Western Digital is an industry-leading provider of storage technologies and solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. The company addresses ever-changing market needs by providing a full portfolio of compelling, high-quality storage solutions with customer-focused innovation, high efficiency, flexibility and speed. Our products are marketed under the HGST, SanDisk and WD brands to OEMs, distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and consumers. Financial and investor information is available on the company's Investor Relations website at investor.wdc.com.

© Western Digital, SanDisk, the SanDisk logo, and iNAND are registered trademarks or trademarks of Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates in the US and/or other countries. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Western Digital Technologies, Inc. is the seller of record and licensee in the Americas of SanDisk® products.

1. Source: Gartner Research, Forecast: Connected Car Production, Worldwide, September 7, 2016
2. Gartner IoT Global Forecast and Analysis, 2015-2025, March 29, 2017
3. Based on internal testing; performance may vary based on capacity, application and usage

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains certain forward-looking statements related to the iNAND 7250A embedded flash device, including its expectations, development, timing for initial output, commercial volume production, product sampling and shipment, capabilities, performance improvements, applications, capacities and customers that are based on current expectations. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate including, among others: volatility in global economic conditions; business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance and cost of commodity materials and specialized product components; actions by competitors; unexpected advances in competing technologies; our development and introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recently filed periodic report, to which your attention is directed. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date hereof, and the company undertakes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.