ITC Initial Determination Issued.

MILPITAS, Calif. -- SanDisk([R]) Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK) announced today that an Administrative Law Judge for the United States International Trade Commission (ITC) issued an Initial Determination that found that ST NAND flash memory infringed multiple claims of SanDisk United States Patent 5,991,517

("'517 Patent") but that these claims of the '517 Patent were invalid. The Initial Determination found that ST NOR flash memory did not infringe the claims of the '517 Patent. The Initial Determination further found that ST NOR did not infringe certain claims of SanDisk United States Patent 5,172,338 ("'338 Patent"). As a result of these findings, the Initial Determination ruled that STMicroelectronics had not committed a violation of U.S. trade laws.

"SanDisk is disappointed in today's findings by an Administrative Law Judge of the ITC," said E. Earle Thompson, SanDisk's Chief Intellectual Property Counsel. "While SanDisk is pleased that the court found that the accused ST NAND flash memory infringed the '517 Patent, we believe the court erred in its finding that the claims of the '517 Patent were invalid and that the '338 Patent was not infringed. SanDisk is in the process of reviewing the Initial Determination and determining how it will respond to the findings of the Administrative Law Judge. SanDisk is also in the process of assessing its options to respond to the recent announcement by STMicroelectronics that it will spin off its NAND and NOR flash memory business. The Initial Determination will not have any impact on existing license agreements or the royalties expected from those agreements."

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements that are based on our current expectations and involve numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate and may significantly and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

About SanDisk

SanDisk is the original inventor of flash storage cards and is the world's largest supplier of flash data storage card products using its patented, high-density flash memory and controller technology. SanDisk is headquartered in Sunnyvale, CA and has operations worldwide, with more than half its sales outside the U.S.