Imation Launches World's First Terabyte-Class Magnetic Tape Manufacturing Facility In Weatherford, Oklahoma

Only U.S.-Based Manufacturer of Removable Data Storage Media Expands Next-Generation Media Manufacturing Capabilities

WEATHERFORD, Okla. (May 4, 2004) - Imation Corp. (NYSE: IMN), a worldwide leader in removable data storage media, today unveiled a new $50 million state-of-the-art advanced tape manufacturing facility at its Weatherford, Okla., plant - delivering the world’s first terabyte-class tape facility built specifically for the development of next-generation tape products. The new 40,000 square-foot facility will incorporate Imation’s new Tera Ångstrom™ technology, a proprietary metal particulate (MP) advanced formulation and process, that will allow Imation to achieve the smoothness and uniformity required to develop future tape technologies with terabyte capacities.

“This is an important milestone for Imation, as we continue to expand our investment in manufacturing capabilities here in the United States with this world-class facility,” said Frank Russomanno, executive vice president and chief operating officer, Imation Corp. “Imation invested more than $100 million in research and development and capital in our data storage removable media business in 2003 alone, half of which was invested in this state-of-the-art advanced tape manufacturing facility, representing the single largest capital investment to date in Imation’s history.”

“Imation is the only U.S.-based manufacturer of advanced magnetic data storage media with a heritage in tape technology that spans more than 50 years, and our investments today in this new facility and Tera Ångstrom technology, combined with our strong industry partnerships, will lead us far into the future,” added Russomanno.

“Imation’s investment in Weatherford is a powerful example of our commitment to quality and excellence in manufacturing. With this new facility, Imation has significantly increased its MP manufacturing capabilities required for the development of future tape storage products, such as increased areal densities, thinner substrates, tighter head-tape interface tolerances and higher tape speeds,” said Colleen Willhite, vice president and general manager, Imation’s Magnetic Products division. “We built this facility to utilize our technology building blocks, such as Tera Ångstrom Technology, that will support the development of advanced MP tape technologies and lead to multi-terabyte cartridge capacities.”

Imation’s new Weatherford facility will begin commercial production in Q2 2004. Initial products will be in capacities upwards of 200GB; Imation expects the new coating facility to deliver multi-terabyte cartridges within the decade. One terabyte is the equivalent of one million megabytes of data, or 16 days of continuously running DVD movies.

Located 60 miles west of Oklahoma City, Imation’s Weatherford facility is an ISO 9002-certified magnetic media coating facility; it currently employs approximately 100 people. The company did not discuss projected employment impact at the highly automated manufacturing site.

"We are excited to expand our presence in Oklahoma, where we have had tremendous support from the Weatherford community for our business, employees and their families," said David Heath, plant manager, Imation Weatherford. “The community’s support and our employees’ hard work and continued dedication has been critical to our success, and we look forward to the advancements we will deliver to the industry with the opening of this new facility."

Worldwide Research and Development
Imation’s manufacturing and technology expertise begins at the company’s state-of-the-art research and development facility at the worldwide headquarters in Oakdale, Minn. At this 423,000 square-foot technology development center — the only R&D facility in the United States focused solely on removable magnetic and optical data storage media — Imation continues to develop new storage technologies and capabilities in magnetic and optical storage media, as well as new proprietary manufacturing technologies and techniques to produce advanced magnetic tape media and next generation optical media.

This expertise extends to the company’s manufacturing facilities throughout the United States, including Camarillo, Calif., Tucson, Ariz., Wahpeton, N.D., and Weatherford, Okla. Imation’s award-winning plants have been honored numerous times for their manufacturing excellence and over time have created unmatched innovation in the industry with the development of the world’s finest tape and optical storage media.

The company also operates six global technical centers, including two centers in the United States, and one each in Canada, China, Europe and Japan. The technical centers are designed to help customers better optimize their current storage investments and address important customer questions about technology, applications, media care and handling, and data protection.

From its origins as 3M's Data Storage Division to today, Imation has been a worldwide leader in magnetic tape technology for more than 50 years, since the introduction of the first data storage tape in 1953. Since Imation’s inception in 1996, the company has invested more than $640 million in research and development and capital in its storage removable data media business to strengthen its core manufacturing and technology capabilities in optical and magnetic media. Today, Imation continues to be the leader of removable data storage media, offering the broadest product portfolio in the industry, from computers, consumer electronics and small businesses to products for servers, storage networks and enterprise systems.

Imation MP Tape Technology
Metal particulate is the technology found in some of the most widely used and rapidly growing data storage tape formats today. Future generations of MP media will provide storage capacities of one terabyte or more per cartridge needed to meet the demanding requirements of large scale data storage operations for backup and restore applications, nearline and offline storage, disaster recovery, business continuity planning and data archiving and retrieval.

About Imation
Imation Corp. is a leading developer, manufacturer and supplier of magnetic and optical removable data storage media. With one of the broadest product lines in the industry—spanning from a few megabytes to hundreds of gigabytes of capacity in each piece of media, Imation serves customers in more than 100 countries, in both business and consumer markets. With more than 300 scientists and more than 330 data storage-related patents in the United States, Imation continues to pioneer today's proven magnetic and optical media technologies.
As of March 31, 2004, Imation employed approximately 2,800 people worldwide. Revenues from outside the U.S. contribute approximately 60 percent of total sales. Additional information about Imation is available on the company’s website at www.imation-southasia.com.

Imation, the Imation logo and Tera Ångstrom are trademarks of Imation Corp.