Western Digital unveils its first WD® Portable SSD

MY PASSPORT® SSD, THE FASTEST WD PORTABLE DRIVE, EVER, OFFERS CONSUMERS POWERFUL PERFORMANCE IN A SLEEK, COMPACT DESIGN 

Dubai, UAE, April 9, 2017 – Western Digital Corporation, (NASDAQ: WDC), a global storage technology and solutions leader, today introduced its fastest WD® brand portable drive yet, the My Passport™ SSD. Featuring blazing-fast speeds and award-winning design, the new My Passport SSD compliments the company’s leading portfolio of My Passport palm-sized storage devices. Designed for content creators and tech enthusiasts, the new My Passport SSD combines exceptional speed and portability to manage massive files on the go.   
 
“The WD brand is focused on delivering fresh, new personal storage devices that offer amazing performance in a beautiful, yet durable design,” said Sven Rathjen, vice president of marketing, Client Solutions, Western Digital. “Our fastest portable drive yet, the My Passport SSD is a powerful solution for people who need to move content quickly and easily wherever life takes them.” 

A New State of Storage 
Featuring speeds of up to 515 MB/s*, the My Passport SSD is the fastest My Passport drive offered by the WD brand. The new, super fast drive is designed for the latest generation of computers with a USB Type-C™ port  and is USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10Gb/s) ready with a USB Type-C to Type-C cable and an adapter to use with the more traditional USB Type-A ports found on many computers. Built for PC and compatible with Mac, My Passport SSD offers peace-of-mind with 256-bit AES hardware encryption and password protection, and is also 6.5-foot drop tested for shock-resistance to withstand 1500G of force, to help keep precious data safe.  

My Passport SSD is the perfect storage solution to rapidly manage large photo and video libraries, quickly back up files and important documents, run virtual machines from, or expand your SSD-laptop storage anywhere you take your computer. The new drive is available in 1TB, 512GB and 256GB capacities**, and comes with WD Backup™ software that enables users to automatically back up their stuff.  

Pricing and Availability
The My Passport SSD is backed by a three-year limited warranty, and is available in the U.S. from  BestBuy.com, and available worldwide at select e-tailers and retailers this quarter. The My Passport SSD has a Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price (MSRP) in the U.S. of $399.99/1TB, $199.99/512GB and $99.99/256GB USD, respectively.

About Western Digital
Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) is an industry-leading provider of storage technologies and solutions that enable people to create, leverage, experience and preserve data. The company addresses ever-changing market needs by providing a full portfolio of compelling, high-quality storage solutions with customer-focused innovation, high efficiency, flexibility and speed. Our products are marketed under the HGST, SanDisk and WD brands to OEMs, distributors, resellers, cloud infrastructure providers and consumers. 

Forward-Looking Statements
This news release includes forward-looking statements, including the expected availability, pricing and performance of the My Passport SSD and its features and benefits to customers.  There are a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate including, among others: the My Passport SSD may not be available when we expect; volatility in global economic conditions; business conditions and growth in the storage ecosystem; impact of competitive products and pricing; market acceptance and cost of commodity materials and specialized product components; actions by competitors; unexpected advances in competing technologies; our development and introduction of products based on new technologies and expansion into new data storage markets; risks associated with acquisitions, mergers and joint ventures; difficulties or delays in manufacturing; and other risks and uncertainties listed in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including our most recently filed periodic report to which your attention is directed. We do not intend to update the information contained in this release.