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Lexar's 16X 512MB CompactFlash card. Courtesy of Lexar Media Inc. Lexar announces 512MB 16X CF card! (UPDATED)
By
(Tuesday, October 9, 2001 - 12:42 EDT)

First in a new lineup of 16x cards promises sustained write speed of 2.4MB/sec...

Lexar Media Inc. has today announced a new 512MB CompactFlash card. Slated to ship on November 1st, the card will debut at the PhotoPlus Expo in New York, which runs from November 1st to 3rd.

In Lexar parlance, the new card is rated as a '16X' model, meaning that it has sustained write speeds of 2.4MB per second. The company has for some time had a tradition of using a baseline speed of 150KB per second, similar to the CD-ROM market - hence 2.4MB is 16X. It should be noted that unlike with CD-ROMs, where 150KB/sec was a real baseline speed that pretty much applied to any first-generation drive, in flash memory the number is really arbitrary and exists more to give an idea of speed than a direct comparison with flash from other manufacturers. That said, 2.4MB/second is pretty speedy - the company's current fastest cards are rated as '12X', which translates to 1.8MB/second sustained write speeds!

We are awaiting confirmation of pricing and form factor for Lexar's new card at the time of this writing. The current 512MB 12X model listed for $999 when announced last August (it now lists for $919), and is to the best of our knowledge the only Type-I CompactFlash card in this capacity currently on the market. Whether today's announcement is also a Type-I card, or a slightly thicker Type-II, we don't yet know...

UPDATED 2001-10-09 13:47ET: Lexar has now confirmed for us that this is a Type-I CompactFlash card. Pricing information is not yet available, but will be announced by November 1st.

Original Source Press Release:

Lexar Media Clocks 2.4MB Per Second With New 16X Professional Series CompactFlash Digital Film

Speed-rated CompactFlash(tm) Assures Customers of Products' Performance apability

FREMONT, Calif., October 9, 2001 - Lexar Media Inc. (NASDAQ: LEXR), a leading designer, developer and marketer of award-winning high-performance digital media and reader products, today announced its 16X Professional Series CompactFlash(tm) Digital Film will begin shipping November 1 and will debut at PhotoPlus Expo in New York City, November 1-3. The 16X speed rated Professional Series memory cards, capable of a minimum sustained write speed of 2.4MB per second, will significantly reduce the time it takes for many digital cameras to read and write high-resolution image files. Lexar Media pioneered the adoption of the "x" speed rating for solid state storage, where x equals 150 kb per second, as used by other digital storage devices such as CD ROMs.

"Improvements in camera resolution and image quality have increased the importance of our speed-rated CompactFlash cards," said Eric Stang, president and CEO, Lexar Media. "Lexar Media has long been the performance leader in memory cards and the only company to individually speed-rate its products so that our customers know exactly what performance they are buying. After many years of insisting otherwise, other companies are finally recognizing that speed matters to photographers and are beginning to disclose the write speed of their cards. While we are sincerely flattered by this imitation, we remain concerned that many of these claims are based on misleading metrics. Their product claims of 'speeds up to' are no guarantee of minimum levels of performance."

Lexar Media Professional Series CompactFlash digital film has become the choice of professional photographers shooting world-renowned events including the Superbowl, Grammy Awards, Miss America Pageant and Eco-Challenge because of its speed, product features and value-add professional services. Pro Series customers receive free 24-hour technical support and free data recovery services. Lexar Media CompactFlash has upgradeable firmware to allow it to be optimized for specific cameras models, is guaranteed to be compatible with CompactFlash digital cameras, is USB-enabled for quick and easy image transfer and is covered by a lifetime warranty.

"We have seen our business grow in part due to the assurance our speed-rating provides our customers," said Stang. "Lexar Media has great momentum right now and I expect even more positive results as we begin to realize sales from these new and highly-differentiated products. We will continue to bring out products that enhance the professional through consumer digital photography experience."

About Lexar Media, Inc.
Lexar Media, Inc. (NSDQ: LEXR) is a leading designer, marketer and licensor of award-winning removable flash-based digital storage media, card readers and ATA controller solutions for the digital photography, consumer electronics, industrial and communications markets. Lexar Media brands digital memory cards in the industry's most popular formats including CompactFlash, SmartMedia, Memory Stick, MultiMediaCard and SD. A digital storage innovator, Lexar Media was the first to develop and advance proprietary read-write speed standards for its USB-enabled CompactFlash cards. Lexar Media's key strategic partners include Samsung Electronics, Sony and Olympus. Headquartered in Fremont, California, Lexar Media also has offices in London and Tokyo. For more information, please call 1-800-789-9418 or visit www.digitalfilm.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking information within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and is subject to the safe harbor created by those sections. These forward-looking statements include statements related to the benefits of and consumer demand for Lexar Media's digital film. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated by these forward-looking statements. These risks include that the growth and success of Lexar Media's business depends on its ability to develop and maintain strategic relationships necessary to develop, sell and market products that are commercially accepted and Lexar Media's business will not succeed unless the digital photography market continues to grow and is accepted by professional, commercial and consumer users. Readers should also refer to the risk factors described in Lexar Media's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for its fiscal year ended December 31, 2000, filed with the Commission on April 2, 2001. Lexar Media assumes no obligation to update the forward-looking information contained in this news release.



Lexar Media, SayCheese.com, Shoot & Share, JumpShot 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.

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