Quantum Corporation Appoints CEO Rick Belluzzo as Chairman
PRNewswire (07/16/2003 4:40 PM ET)

Quantum Corporation Appoints CEO Rick Belluzzo as Chairman of Its Board of Directors SAN JOSE, Calif., July 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Quantum Corp. (NYSE: DSS), a leading provider of data protection systems, today announced that Rick Belluzzo, the company's chief executive officer, has been named chairman of its board of directors, effective immediately. Michael Brown, the former chairman, will continue to serve as a company director. "In his relatively short time at Quantum, Rick has done a great job leading Quantum through a number of transitions to better position the company," said Edward J. Sanderson, Jr., a member of Quantum's board. "As Rick has made clear, however, there is still a lot of work to do. The board looks forward to the broader role Rick will play in executing Quantum's data protection strategy and delivering shareholder value." Since Belluzzo joined Quantum in September 2002, the company has taken a number of steps to focus solely on data protection and improve its long-term performance. These steps include making two key acquisitions, outsourcing manufacturing, spinning off one of its businesses, improving operational efficiencies and reducing costs. As a result of these and other actions, for the fiscal year that ended in March, Quantum gained share both in the super drive category of the tape market and in tape automation, launched a new category of disk-based enhanced backup products, improved gross margins and reduced expenses. In addition, the company laid the groundwork for the introduction of several new generation products next quarter. These products, which include the SDLT 600 super drive and DX100 enhanced backup solution, will address important challenges customers are facing in data protection and thereby expand Quantum's market opportunities. About Quantum Quantum Corp., founded in 1980, is a global leader in data protection, meeting the needs of business customers with enterprise-wide storage solutions and services. Quantum offers a wide range of tape drive and tape automation products for managing, storing and transferring data, and its DLTtape(TM) technology is the standard for tape backup, archiving, and recovery. Over the past year, Quantum has also been one of the pioneers in the emerging market of disk-based backup, offering a solution that emulates a tape library and is optimized for data protection. Quantum sales for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2003, were $871 million. Quantum Corp., 1650 Technology Dr., Suite 800, San Jose, CA 95110, 408-944-4000, www.quantum.com. NOTE: Quantum and the Quantum logo are trademarks of Quantum Corporation registered in the United States and other countries. DLTtape, SDLT and DX are trademarks of Quantum Corporation. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. "Safe Harbor" Statement under the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Specifically, without limitation, statements relating to Mr. Belluzzo's role in executing Quantum's data protection strategy and delivering shareholder value and the introduction of new generation products next quarter, including the SDLT 600 super drive and the DX100 enhanced backup solution, to address important challenges customers are facing in data protection and expand Quantum's market opportunities, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor. These statements are based on management's current expectations and are subject to certain risks and uncertainties. As a result, actual results may differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained herein. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those described herein include, but are not limited to, our ability to successfully introduce new products, acceptance of, and demand for, our products, the amount of orders received in future periods, our ability to timely ship our products, and our ability to achieve anticipated pricing, cost and gross margin levels given lower volumes and continuing price and cost pressures. More detailed information about these risk factors, and additional risk factors, are set forth in Quantum's periodic filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties listed in the section entitled "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Trends and Uncertainties," pages 43 to 55, in Quantum's Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on June 30, 2003. In particular, you should review the risk factors on pages 48 and 54 of our June 30, 2003 Form 10-K under the headings "Our operating results depend on new product introductions, which may not be successful, in which case our business, financial condition and operating results may be materially and adversely affected," and "Our quarterly operating results could fluctuate significantly, and past quarterly operating results should not be used to predict future performance." Quantum expressly disclaims any obligation to update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.