Toshiba Corporation
Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.

Tokyo, December 10, 1997--Toshiba Corporation and Samsung Electronics, Co., Ltd. today announced support for new generations of SmartMedia^TM, the removable storage media card that combines high capacity and cost-efficient performance with a size only a little larger than a postage stamp. New products developed by the companies will advance the capacity of SmartMedia^TM to 128 megabyte, while assuring compatibility and interchangability by following the standard established by the SSFDC (Solid-State Floppy-Disk Cards) forum.

SSFDC forum finalized format and electrical specifications for 16, 32, 64 and 128 megabyte SmartMedia^TM cards in mid November this year. Toshiba and Samsung have now committed to a development and commercialization route map that will double card capacities every year, culminating in the launch of a 128-megabyte SmartMedia^TM card in 2001.

SmartMedia^TM consists of a highly compact, light and cost effective NAND-type flash memory card for personal digital media. The NAND chip achieves a simple, cost- effective structure allowing individual sectors of the chip to be rewritten at high speed. As a result, data or programs stored on SmartMedia^TM can be amended without any need to entirely rewrite the whole memory. These characteristics have already made it a favorite among manufacturers of digital still cameras, and SmartMedia^TM cards are already memory card of choice for Fuji Film, Minolta, Olympus, Ricoh, and other leading manufacturers.

Toshiba and Samsung now produce 2, 4 and 8-megabyte SmartMedia^TM, and will meet the need for expanded memory size with their new products. This is expected to increase the range of SmartMedia^TM applications to such areas as sound recording and memory storage for portable information devices, as well as provide higher picture capacities for current and future digital cameras.

The SSFDC forum was established in April 1996 to bring together companies working to establish an industry standard for a versatile, NAND-based memory card. As of November this year the forum had 65 members, drawn from a broad spectrum of industry.

Founded in 1875, Toshiba is one of the world's leading integrated electronics companies and a recognized leader in key fields such as energy, semiconductors and computers and communications. The company invented and continues to develop NAND-type flash memory. For more information on Toshiba, please visit Toshiba home page at http://www.toshiba.co.jp.

Samsung Elecrtonics Co., Ltd., a US$19 billion flagship company of the Korea-based Samsung Group, is a world leading producer of consumer electronics, IT, multimedia and semiconductor products. The company is active world-wide with operations in more than 60 countries. Additional information on the company is available at http://samsungelectronics.com.