SanDisk and Sony expand the scope of their Memory Stick cooperation with a new cross licence agreement * Agreement strengthens relationship between the two comp

SUNNYVALE (USA, California) and TOKYO (Japan), June 17(PROTEXT/PRNewswire) - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ: SNDK) andSony Corporation (NYSE: SNE) today announced that the twocompanies have signed a cross licensing agreement.

This agreement enhances the close relationship that SanDiskand Sony have built over the last two years since their initialSeptember 2001 collaboration agreement to offer Memory Stickmedia. The initial agreement was followed by a January 2003announcement highlighting joint SanDisk and Sony development ofMemory Stick PRO(tm) media designed to realise new levels ofperformance, such as real-time recording of high-resolutionmoving images.

SanDisk holds a right to manufacture Memory Stick PRO media,based on the January 2003 announcement. The cross licensingagreement enhances the relationship and expands the cooperationbetween SanDisk and Sony to cover various Memory Stick products.This agreement will allow SanDisk to manufacture and sell MemoryStick that include Memory Stick(tm), Memory Stick Duo(tm), MemoryStick(tm) with Memory Select Function and Memory Stick(tm) I/Ocards under the SanDisk brand. SanDisk will begin to manufactureMemory Stick media under the new cross licensing agreement in thesecond quarter of 2003.

Based on the agreement, SanDisk and Sony will further promoteMemory Stick throughout the industry respectively. The MemoryStick format will gain additional support to pursue its positionas an industry standard and provide users with a wider choice ofmedia and compatible products.

Eli Harari, SanDisk president and CEO, said, "We value ourclose relationship with Sony and the enhanced scope ofcooperation that this announcement signifies. The manufacturinglicence is important to SanDisk's customers because it will allowus to supply Memory Stick, Memory Stick PRO and Duo products toboth our retail and our OEM customers. Sony and SanDisk share acommon vision for exciting new digital audio, imaging and videoapplications as well as the latest mobile phones and othermultimedia-rich devices that require Memory Stick media."

Teruaki Aoki, Corporate Executive Vice President of SonyCorporation, said, "This announcement signifies the broadeningand natural progression of the relationship between SanDisk andSony. We are very pleased to have SanDisk manufacture MemoryStick products to help further expansion of Memory Stick'sconnected world among a variety of compatible products andmeet growing market demand. SanDisk's flash card expertise andhigh quality manufacturing will help enhance the strong positionof Memory Stick as a global standard for digital recordingmedia."

Memory Stick products enjoy a share in excess of 25% of thetotal market for removable flash storage cards(1). SanDisk hasbeen selling SanDisk-branded Memory Stick products since 2001 andis a co-developer with Sony of Memory Stick PRO.

Since its market introduction in September 1998, Memory Stickhas evolved from storage media for still images and computer datainto broad networking media for recording diverse content,including copyrighted material, and sharing it among the widestpossible variety of products. To meet growing consumer needs,Memory Stick has been adopted in more than 600 models and acrossmore than 60 product categories. Worldwide cumulative shipmentsof Memory Stick media reached 39 million units, and shipments ofMemory Stick compliant products reached 40 million units as ofApril 2003.

SanDisk Corporation, the world's largest supplier of flashdata storage card products, designs, manufactures and marketsindustry-standard, solid-state data, digital imaging and audiostorage products using its patented, high density flash memoryand controller technology. SanDisk is based in Sunnyvale,California.

Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video,game, communications, key device and information technologyproducts for the consumer and professional markets. With itsmusic, pictures, computer entertainment and on-line businesses,Sony is uniquely positioned to be the leading personal broadbandentertainment company in the world. Sony recorded consolidatedannual sales of approximately US$62 billion for the fiscal yearended March 31, 2003.(1) Source: International Data Corporation, 2003

The matters discussed in this news release contain forwardlooking statements that are subject to certain risks anduncertainties as described under the caption, "Factors That MayAffect Future Results" in the company's annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, filed with the Securitiesand Exchange Commission. The companies assume no obligationto update the information in this release.

All trade names are either registered trademarks ortrademarks of their respective holders.For more information or images on SanDisk and its products,contact: http://www.sandisk.comSony Global Web Site: http://www.sony.netMemory Stick official web site: http://www.memorystick.comContact:SanDisk CorporationAki Shimazutel: +1 408-548-0223email: aki.shimazu@jp.sony.comorSony CorporationMike Wongtel +81-3-5448-2200email mwong@sandisk.comor(Sony in Europe)Matthias Collitel +49-30-2575-5158email Matthias.colli@eu.sony.comor Marie Cedersundtel +49-30-2575-5169email marie.Cedersund@eu.sony.com Subscribers please note that material bearing the slug"PROTEXT" is not part of CTK's news service and is not to bepublished under the "CTK" slug. Protext is a commercial serviceproviding distribution of press releases from clients, who areidentified in the text of Protext reports and who bear fullresponsibility for their contents. PROTEXT