Study Says Average “Generation Y” Consumer has $2,000 of Entertainment Stored on Digital Devices

Survey Shows Majority of Consumers Wants 2-3 Times More Digital Storage Than They Currently Have

SAN JOSE, Calif. - Sept. 2, 2005 - As digital entertainment streams into consumers’ lives, they are amassing valuable troves of stored data. A recent survey conducted by KRC Research and Hitachi Global Storage Technologies found that U.S. adults have an average of $1,135 worth of entertainment* stored on devices such as laptops/PCs, MP3 players, DVRs, mobile phones, PDAs, digital cameras or portable movie players, and that their appetite for more storage is growing as our lives become more mobile. In particular, “Generation Y” (18-24 years) consumers, a group known for their technology savvy, have an even higher average of $2,199 worth of entertainment stored on devices.

The survey results also point to a larger belief within the hard drive industry: As the cost of digital storage becomes less than 10 percent of the content value, it is affordable enough for that content to be permanently retained – increasing the pervasiveness of hard disk drives. Hitachi believes high-capacity hard drives – unlike any other form of portable storage today – have now achieved that level of affordability for consumers.

“As hard drives shrink in size and increase in capacity, the kinds of consumer electronics devices they inspire are changing how people accumulate and store entertainment in their homes and lives,” said Bill Healy, senior vice president, marketing, HDD business planning and strategy, Hitachi Global Storage Technologies. “Young people are truly at the heart of this revolution and have a huge interest in creating a digital lifestyle. Based on the decreasing cost-per-megabyte of storage, we believe that hard drives will represent the best solution for meeting this consumer storage demand for the foreseeable future.”

The telephone survey of 1,004 adults (18-65+ years) conducted during August 2005 also found the following results:

The proliferation of digital entertainment is increasing the value of what people are accumulating on their digital devices:

* More than half of those surveyed (56%) stated that they felt all the photos, music, movies and video games they have stored is somewhat important, valuable or priceless.
* Nearly one in five said their digital content was “priceless.”

Storage capacity counts:

* 49% have between 1-200 GB worth of storage capacity across all of their electronic devices;
* 34% have 21 GB of capacity or more;
* 10% have more than 200 GB of storage capacity;
* “Generation Y” (18-24 years) consumers are most likely to have the largest amount of storage capacity.

Consumers see the value in storing data, and want more as digital entertainment needs grow:

* 60% of U.S. adults polled said they wish they had more storage on their electronic devices;
* Nearly one third said they wish they had “so much storage that it was never an issue,” particularly true for “Generation Y” consumers, who on average, have nearly 1,200 songs stored – three times more songs than the average population.

* Amount is based on the value associated with industry average costs for songs, photos, movies and video games

About Hitachi Global Storage Technologies
Hitachi Global Storage Technologies was founded in 2003 as a result of the strategic combination of Hitachi’s and IBM’s storage technology businesses. Hitachi GST is the industry’s second largest hard disk drive manufacturer in revenue.

The company’s goal is to enable users to fully engage in the digital lifestyle by providing access to large amounts of storage capacity in formats suitable for the office, on the road and in the home. The company offers customers worldwide a comprehensive range of storage products for desktop computers, high-performance servers and mobile devices. For more information on Hitachi Global Storage Technologies, please visit the company’s Web site at http://www.hitachigst.com.

About Hitachi, Ltd.
Hitachi, Ltd., (NYSE: HIT), headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is a leading global electronics company with approximately 347,000 employees worldwide. Fiscal 2004 (ended March 31, 2005) consolidated sales totaled 9,027.0 billion yen ($84.4 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.

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Kim Nguyen

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Hitachi Global Storage Technologies

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