SanDisk opens flash memory design center

SanDisk Corporation has announced the opening of SanDisk
India Device Design Center in the country's technology hub of Bangalore, where
engineers will work on the core elements of the company's flash memory
products. The announcement was made at a press conference in Bangalore that was
attended by Sanjay Mehrotra, SanDisk chief operating officer, and other company
officials.

"India is a logical place for us to expand our global
network of research and development centers because of the great talent pool
here and because of our existing relationships with companies that support us in
hardware, firmware and software testing," said Mehrotra, who is also
SanDisk's co-founder.

India, he added, is expected to become a major market for
SanDisk products as a result of booming consumer demand for mobile phones and
MP3 audio players. "We need to have a solid presence to promote our brand
and to leverage the opportunities for growth in the retail sector," he
said. "As we increase our production of flash memory this year, we intend
to focus more attention on India, including the addition of more distributors
and storefronts."

The SanDisk India Design Center will initially concentrate on projects
involving NAND memory - the heart of SanDisk's flash memory cards, USB drives
and MP3 players. Later, the team will be expanded to include development work on
ASIC controllers, which are the gatekeepers for data in flash memory cells.