Lexar Media Announces 80X Professional CompactFlash Cards

February 12, 2004 | Mark Goldstein | Digital | Comment |

Lexar MediaLexar Media Press Release 12/02/04

Lexar Media Announces 80X Professional CompactFlash Cards with 12MB/s Minimum Sustained Write Speed

Professional Memory Cards Include New Write Acceleration with Optimized Firmware for Increased In-Camera Performance

Las Vegas, February 12, 2004 (PMA Booth H100)—Lexar Media, Inc. (Nasdaq: LEXR), a leading manufacturer and marketer of high-performance digital media and accessories, today doubled the minimum sustained write speed capability of its Professional Series CompactFlash (CF) product line to 80X, or 12MB per second. With this introduction, Lexar Media is providing the fastest CompactFlash with guaranteed write speeds available, serving the needs of professional photographers and all digital camera users requiring faster image write times. Lexar is offering its 80X Professional Series CompactFlash cards in five different capacities, including 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB and 4GB. Lexar Media today also announced a 8GB 40X Professional Series CompactFlash card, extending the company?s CF line with the highest capacity CompactFlash card on the market.

Lexar?s new 80X CF cards include an enhanced version of Write Acceleration technology, which optimizes the cards? firmware to reduce overhead associated with transferring data from the camera to the memory card, and improves in-camera performance in high-resolution CompactFlash based cameras. In addition, Lexar?s new Write Acceleration provides a larger controller buffer to accommodate transferring up to 32 sectors of data to the card in one command, in cameras supporting this feature. CompactFlash cards without Write Acceleration typically transfer only one sector of data at a time.

?Our new 80X speed-rated cards will satisfy the needs of professional photographers who crave speed,? said John Omvik, Director of Professional Products Marketing, Lexar Media. ?Professional photographers can?t afford to miss important images because their memory cards can?t keep up. With Lexar?s new 80X cards, they won?t.?

The new cards include a free copy of Lexar?s award-winning Image Rescue 2.0? software to recover seemingly ?lost? or deleted images from memory cards. Image Rescue 2.0 now recovers images from any memory card format or brand, and for added convenience, can be used with all mass storage compliant card readers ? including USB 2.0, USB 1.1 and FireWire readers.

?Lexar Media does more for serious photographers than any other memory card manufacturer,? said Jeffrey Aaronson, internationally recognized photojournalist. ?These new cards are exceptionally fast and with dedicated support for professionals, plus their image recovery software, Lexar?s Pro CF cards are professional photographer?s ideal choice.?

Lexar Media?s new 80X speed-rated Professional Series CompactFlash will be available in photo specialty stores beginning May 2004. The 80X cards will be offered in 256MB, 512MB, 1GB, 2GB and 4GB capacities, with expected retail prices of $99.99, $199.99 and $399.99, $699.99 and $1,499.99, respectively. They include a lifetime warranty, unlimited access to Lexar Media?s dedicated technical support team for professional photographers, and a free trial version of Photo Mechanic? image management software.

About Lexar Media, Inc.
Lexar Media is a leading manufacturer and marketer of flash memory cards, USB flash drives, card readers and ATA controller technology for the digital photography, consumer electronics, industrial and communications markets. The company holds over 70 issued and allowed controller and system patents, and licenses its technology to companies including Olympus, Samsung Electronics and Sony. For more information, please call 1-800-789-9418 or visit www.lexarmedia.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking statements which are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements include statements related to the benefits of and consumer demand for Lexar Media’s products and the growth opportunities available to Lexar Media. These forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. These risks include that Lexar Media’s growth and success depends on its ability to achieve and maintain technology leadership and sell and market products that are commercially accepted. Readers should also refer to the risk factors described in Lexar Media’s filings with the SEC, including its most recently filed Form 10-K and Form 10-Q. Lexar Media assumes no obligation to update the information in this release.

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Lexar Media, JumpDrive and the Lexar Media logo are trademarks of Lexar Media, Inc. Lexar Media, Inc. is an authorized licensee of the CompactFlash trademark. All other brand or product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.