Seagate Launches Asia Pacific-Based CETEC

Seagate Launches Asia Pacific-Based CETEC (Consumer Electronics Testing & Engineering Centre)

Close proximity of CETEC will help regional consumer electronics companies to deliver new applications and devices to market faster

SINGAPORE - October 23, 2001 - Seagate Technology today launched its newest Consumer Electronics Testing and Engineering Centre (CETEC) in Singapore to help Consumer Electronics (CE) customers in Asia Pacific integrate hard drives into new classes of consumer devices. Seagate's CETEC labs are the industry's only consumer electronics-dedicated testing, integration and analysis facilities. Located at Seagate's Ang Mo Kio plant, the new CETEC facility offers unique services and CE-optimised disc drive technology to customers that are integrating disc drives into CE devices. Seagate first unveiled CETEC at its Longmont, Colorado design centre in July 2000.

Seagate's CETEC Asia will provide the most complete centre of digital storage expertise for CE devices - from clarifying design issues in concept drawings to testing the product and developing protective packaging for volume shipment. The opening of CETEC in Asia offers Asia Pacific-based CE manufacturers geographically convenient services for integrating hard disc drive technology into their CE products as they innovate and deliver a brand new world of entertainment. Customers worldwide will gain the full advantage of Seagate employees' expertise and services at both facilities. Seagate's global CE technical and business support teams will also leverage both sites in support of customers' test plans and service requirements.

"We foresee hard disc drives being incorporated into a very wide range of consumer electronics devices over the coming years, creating exciting and powerful information and entertainment applications," said Graham Penn, Director of Research at International Data Corporation (IDC). "Seagate established its leadership position by becoming the first disc drive supplier to ship hard disc drives into a brand new market, namely digital storage enabled consumer electronics. This further demonstrates Seagate's commitment to the CE market. With co-location of these industry-leading services, Asian CE customers will benefit greatly from easy access to integration, reliability and compatibility testing. This announcement advances Seagate's position as the storage technology leader in the CE arena."

CETEC is a key part of Seagate's strategy to help consumer electronics makers deliver disc drive-enabled CE devices such as personal video recorders, game consoles, home audio, Internet caching devices, automobile information systems (telematics) and smart household appliances. Through CETEC, Seagate partners directly with CE OEMs that need hands-on assistance integrating disc drives directly into their own designs.

"Seagate is very much in the business of providing CE customers with the guidance, expertise, and infrastructure to design and test their hard drive-based consumer solutions," said Joel Stead, Seagate senior vice president of Worldwide Sales and Marketing. "The list of significant partners with whom Seagate is working reflects the appeal of CETEC and the quality and value of its technologies. CETEC is the CE industry's top design and integration centre, delivering superior products, processes and people. Establishing CETEC in Asia brings us closer to our Asian CE partners as we assist them in building the tools of the home entertainment revolution."

About Seagate Seagate is the leading storage partner for the Consumer Electronics industry, with industry-leading sales and market share confirmed by independent analysts. Seagate has sold more hard drives for CE devices than all its competitors combined. Seagate began working to develop the CE storage market long before its competitors and in 1997 was first to deliver disc drives for use in this new market. With the end-to-end relationships nurtured through its unique CETEC processes and services, Seagate maintains its advantage over other disc drive makers as the premium provider of added value services for CE customers. Today, Seagate is the most prepared, experienced disc drive company with whom to partner when bringing a CE device to market.

Seagate is the world's leading provider of storage technology for Internet, business and consumer applications. The Company's products include disc drives for the Enterprise, PCs and Consumer Electronics, as well as Storage Area Network (SAN) solutions. Seagate's market leadership is based on delivering award-winning products, customer support and reliability to meet the world's growing demand for information storage. Seagate can be found around the globe and at www.seagate.com.

Seagate, Seagate Technology, CETEC, are trademarks or registered trademarks of Seagate Technology. All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

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