Agere Systems Delivers TrueStore(TM) Storage Chips To Magicstor For One-Inch Consumer Electronics Hard Disk Drive

ALLENTOWN, Pa., Jan. 26 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Agere Systems today announced that it is providing read-channel storage integrated circuits (ICs) to China-based manufacturer GS Magicstor Inc. for use in its one-inch hard disk drive (HDD). Agere's low-power, high- performance read-channels offer the capabilities needed to maximize capacity and ensure long battery life in storage solutions for portable consumer electronics devices.

Magicstor is using Agere's TrueStore(TM) RC6500LP read-channel IC in its one-inch, 4.4-gigabyte hard disk drive. This drive, one of the smallest developed for the portable market, has the capacity to store thousands of songs and photos for handheld digital music players and cameras, record feature-length, DVD-quality movies for mobile video devices, and enable multiple software applications in PDAs. With fast read/write operating speeds, hard disk drives offer better performance and power efficiency for managing large multimedia files than competing flash-based storage solutions.

"Magicstor is breaking the traditional concept of handheld storage by delivering much higher capacity than is typically available in today's storage devices," said David Wu, CEO of GS Magicstor. "Consumers expect that their mobile devices won't suffer data loss or fast battery drain, and Agere's read- channels offer an excellent combination of low power consumption and data storage reliability for our drives."

Agere's read-channels enable high areal density on hard drive storage platters through superior signal-to-noise ratio performance, and are tailored to the power and size requirements of portable consumer electronics drives. The RC6500LP chip offers four power modes - running, idle, standby and sleep - with a power savings of up to 50 percent over previous generation Agere read- channels, depending on the mode selected and operating speed. These are critical factors for ensuring that compact drives can provide the durability and performance required to expand the market for high-capacity storage in portable consumer electronics products.

"Agere's TrueStore read-channel has the signal integrity and reliability needed for hard drives to pack additional data in such a small space while helping extend battery life in portable electronics," said Joe O'Hare, vice president of Agere's Storage division. "With the recent adoption of more HDD-based portable devices, such as digital audio and video players, Agere's storage solutions deliver the best-performing electronics for drive developers focused on the mobile market."

Agere is currently shipping its RC6500LP read-channels in volume to multiple customers.

For more information, customers may visit Agere's Web site at http://www.agere.com/ or contact one of Agere's regional sales offices. Customers in the U.S. may also call the Agere Systems Customer Response Center at 1-800-372-2447. Customers in Canada may call 1-800-553-2448. Customers outside those countries may call 1-610-712-4323. Fax inquiries may be directed to 1-610-712-4106, or e-mail queries to docmaster@agere.com. Written inquiries should be sent to Agere Systems, Room 10A-301C, 1110 American Parkway NE, Lehigh Valley Central Campus, Allentown, PA, 18109, USA.

Agere Systems is a premier provider of advanced integrated circuit solutions for wireless data, high-density storage and multiservice networking applications. Agere's wireless data portfolio enables seamless network access and Internet connectivity through its GPRS offering for data-capable cellular phones, as well as Wi-Fi/802.11 solutions for wireless LANs and computing applications. The company is the market leader in providing integrated circuits for the hard disk drive market, with number one positions in sales of system-on-a-chip solutions and preamplifiers. Agere also provides custom and standard multiservice networking solutions to move information across wired, wireless and enterprise networks. Agere's customers include the leading PC manufacturers, wireless terminal providers, network equipment suppliers and hard-disk drive providers. More information about Agere Systems is available from its web site at http://www.agere.com/.

Agere is a registered trademark and TrueStore, Agere Systems and the Agere Systems logo are trademarks of Agere Systems Inc.

This release contains forward-looking statements based on information available to Agere as of the date hereof. Agere's actual results could differ materially from the results stated or implied by such forward-looking statements due to a number of risks and uncertainties. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the impact of any global or regional health epidemic, such as severe acute respiratory syndrome, keeping pace with technological change, dependence on new product development, price and product competition, availability of manufacturing capacity, customer demand for our products and services, general industry and market conditions, limits on our ability to issue equity to raise capital and reliance on major customers and suppliers. For a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties, see our annual report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended September 30, 2003. Agere disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

CONTACT: Glen Haley, +1-610-712-1747, or +1-610-217-0781 (mobile),
glenhaley@agere.com, or JoAnna Schooler, +44-1344-865-815, or +44-7899-063-151
(mobile), jschooler@agere.com, both of Agere Systems

Web site: http://www.agere.com/