WESTERN DIGITAL ENTERS STRATEGIC ALLIANCE WITH ADAPTEC FOR DESIGN OF
ENTERPRISE STORAGE LSI; SELLS FIBRE CHANNEL GROUP TO VIXEL

IRVINE, CA.-- February 6, 1996-- Western Digital Corporation(NYSE:WDC)
today announced it has signed a letter of intent with Adaptec, Inc.
(NASDAQ: ADPT) for Adaptec to provide Western Digital advanced
storage-control technology for its Enterprise hard drives. In addition,
Adaptec will acquire certain assets and ongoing business of Western
Digital's Connectivity Solutions Group and be assigned contracted
semiconductor foundry capacity. Under the agreement, Western Digital will
receive cash payments of approximately $45 million. The transaction is
subject to execution of a definitive agreement to be approved by the
boards of directors of each company and customary regulatory approvals and
other closing conditions.

Separately, Western Digital announced it has signed a letter of intent with
Vixel Corporation for the purchase of Western Digital's fibre channel
products operation by Vixel in exchange for financial considerations,
including an equity interest in Vixel.

Chuck Haggerty, chairman, president, and chief executive officer of Western
Digital, said: "These agreements intensify the focus of Western Digital's
resources on the personal and enterprise computing segments of information
storage. A sharper focus is especially important to us now, as we prepare
to enter the challenging high-capacity Enterprise Storage segment later
this year and as we strengthen our leadership position in the Personal
Storage area.

"The strategic relationship with Adaptec is important to our success in the
Enterprise Storage business and fits with our virtual vertical integration
business model, providing access to Adaptec's advanced storage-control
electronics design expertise. This relationship provides Western Digital
time-to-market advantages and a pathway to leading technologies."

Regarding the investment in Vixel, Haggerty noted: "By combining the
strengths of Vixel's technology with Western Digital's fibre channel
products group, Vixel will be well-positioned to drive affordable
high-bandwidth fibre optic solutions into mainstream computing, telephone
switching and networking applications. Our agreement with Vixel will
provide Western Digital with access to this technology, an important
consideration for our Enterprise Storage business as bandwidth expands and
enables more and more storage in the years ahead."

Western Digital Corporation is a leader in information storage management.
The company designs and manufacturers hard disk drives for personal and
enterprise-wide computing, and markets them to leading systems
manufacturers and selected resellers under the Western Digital and Caviar
brand names. Western Digital is the first U.S.- headquartered,
multinational company to have been awarded company-wide ISO9001
registration, linking all WD organizations with a consistent global
standard for quality processes. The company was founded in 1970 and has
long been noted for its storage and end-market systems-level design
knowledge. The company's World Wide Web home page can be found at
http://www.wdc.com, on America Online by using the keyword Western Digital
or WDC and on Microsoft Network by using the "go" word WDC.

Vixel, a privately-held company based in Brommfield, Co., has taken a
leadership role in the design and manufacture of affordable high- speed
fibre optic communication links and advanced laser technology, essential
for optical interconnect solutions for computers, premises switches and
hubs, and telephone switches based on Fibre Channel, 1000 base F Ethernet,
ATM, SCI, Hippi, and proprietary platforms.
 
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