SanDisk chooses ARC processor for high-volume flash storage controller

Flexible 32-bit processor will allow SanDisk?s customers to differentiate their products
ARC allows functions in firmware, resulting in improved time to market

San Jose, CA, July 11, 2000: SanDisk (NASDAQ:SNDK), the world?s largest supplier of flash memory cards, has chosen the ARC 32-bit configurable microprocessor from ARC Cores for its next generation Mass Storage Flash controllers.

Yoram Cedar V.P. System Engineering, said, ? We see a long term need for a powerful, configurable, flexible and low cost core. With those features SanDisk will be able to provide value added configurable products that will enable our customers to differentiate their products in the market. A good example is content protection in our Secure Digital flash cards. Because of its excellent performance at low power, the ARC core also gives us the ability to implement many functions in firmware that today are implemented in hardwired logic and that will improve our time to market.?

SanDisk industry standard flash cards enable many new products including Internet music players, smart phones, digital cameras, and handheld computers. The cards, with capacities ranging up to 1.2 gigabytes, are sold worldwide under the SanDisk label in more than 20,000 retail stores.

?ARC?s configurable microprocessor technology allows high-volume manufacturers to meet their specific design needs with a solution that keeps pace with changing requirements and emerging standards,? says Jim Turley, ARC?s VP of Marketing. ?It is that flexibility that provides companies, such as SanDisk, with a powerful design solution that meets their cost and performance objectives in a timely manner. ARC?s 32-bit architecture is now used in many communications, consumer, and storage applications that need the flexibility that only ARC can provide.?

About SanDisk

SanDisk Corporation (www.sandisk.com) is the world?s largest supplier of flash data storage products. SanDisk (formerly SunDisk) was founded in 1988 by Eli Harari, an international authority on non-volatile memory technology. SanDisk designs, develops and markets flash memory data storage products used in a wide variety of electronic systems. The company has optimized its flash memory storage solution, known as "system flash," to address the needs of many emerging applications in the consumer electronics and industrial/communications markets.

In November 1995, SanDisk became a publicly traded company (NASDAQ:SNDK). The company, which has approximately 800 employees, is headquartered at 140 Caspian Court, Sunnyvale, CA, 94089; phone (408) 542-0500 and has sales offices in Sunnyvale, Columbus, OH, Washington, DC, Orlando, FL, Irvine, CA, Hannover, Germany, Paris, France, Amsterdam, Holland, Hong Kong, China and Yokohama, Japan, where it operates a wholly-owned subsidiary, SanDisk K.K.

SanDisk products are sold worldwide through numerous OEMs (original equipment manufacturers), distributors, VARs (value-added resellers) and retailers. Many major OEMs sell cards produced by SanDisk under their own brand names. These companies include Hewlett-Packard, Fujitsu, Motorola, Kodak and Panasonic. In 1999, SanDisk shipped five million product units. SanDisk?s revenues were $247 million during 1999, an 82 percent increase over the $135.8 million in 1998. Net income in 1999 was $26.6 million, compared with $11.8 million in 1998.

ARChitect is a trademark and ARC Cores is a trademark of ARC International (UK) Ltd. All other brands or product names are the property of their respective holders.