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SAMSUNG AND SanDisk SIGN PATENT CROSS LICENSE

Samsung Electronics Co and SanDisk Corporation have announced that they have signed cross license and supply agreements covering flash memory technology. With these agreements, both companies have dismissed lawsuits that they had filed earlier against each other in California and Texas courts. A previous patent cross-licensing agreement between Samsung and SanDisk expired this month. The new agreements have a term of seven years.

Under the agreements, Samsung and SanDisk will be cross-licensed to the flash memory and card patents of both companies. Samsung will also supply SanDisk with flash memory products for the next seven years. Both the license and supply agreements cover MLC (multi-level cell) patents and products. Other details of the agreement were not disclosed.

Y.W. Lee, CEO and president of Samsung Electronics, said, "With these agreements in place, the two companies bring a stronger and a more stable flash future for the end users. In particular, SanDisk brings leadership and many years of valuable experiences in the MLC technology and flash application areas. Samsung on the other hand has made critical breakthroughs in the NAND flash technology areas. In combination, the two sides now have the necessary foundation to raise the state of current flash technologies and assure that the anticipated increase in global demand for flash memory products, both in terms of volume and performance, will be satisfied."

Eli Harari, CEO and president of SanDisk, said, "These new licensing and supply agreements are very good and fair agreements to both our companies. The license agreement continues under the terms of the first license agreement that has just expired and expands the scope of the license to include the future right to sell flash products incorporating MLC patents. The supply agreement covers the supply of standard flash as well as the future supply of MLC flash. This supply agreement represents welcome news to SanDisk's customers: it allows us to better meet the anticipated increase in global demand for flash memory in the coming years by supplementing our existing supply from FlashVision as well as from our other supply agreements with substantial new supplies of NAND flash from Samsung. I am particularly pleased and honored to sign these agreements with president Y.W. Lee of Samsung."

Samsung Electronics Co is a global leader in semiconductor, telecommunication, and digital convergence technology. Samsung Electronics employs approximately 64,000 people in 89 offices in 47 countries. Samsung Electronics is one of the world's largest producers of memory chips, Smart Card Chips, Display Driver ICs, TFT-LCDs, CDMA mobile phones, monitors and VCRs. Samsung Electronics consists of four main business units: Digital Media Network, Device Solution Network, Telecommunication Network and Digital Appliance Network Businesses. For more information, please visit our Web site, samsungelectronics.com.

SanDisk, www.sandisk.com, one of the world's largest suppliers of flash data storage products, designs, manufactures and markets industry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audio storage products using its patented, high density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale, CA.

Contact: SanDisk Corporation, Bob Goligoski, 408-542-0463, bgoligoski@sandisk.com.