BARCELONA, Spain--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MOBILE WORLD CONGRESS – Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC), a global storage technology and solutions leader, today announced the company is working with industry-leading smartphone technology manufacturers to ensure consumers can take full advantage of the new A1 specification with its SanDisk products. Together, A1-enabled smartphones and SanDisk A1 performance class microSD™ cards offer consumers a new dimension of performance when it comes to loading and launching apps.

According to a recent survey by the company1, many consumers are looking to improve their launch app experience. Of those surveyed, more than 50 percent found slow app loading and launching to be a problem. In an effort to offer consumers an enhanced experience, SanDisk has expanded its line-up of A1 compatible microSD cards to now include its high-performance 256GB2 SanDisk Extreme® microSDXC™ memory card.

“By specifically addressing app performance, A1 is a real game-changer for the industry. We are excited to play a significant role in the evolution of the microSD format, and work with the top smartphone technology manufacturers to offer more advanced storage solutions,” Dinesh Bahal, vice president of product development, Client Solutions, Western Digital.

The A1 spec allows the SanDisk microSD cards to manage random read input-output access per second (IOPS) of 1,500 and write IOPS of 500, so it can quickly open apps and process accompanying tasks, such as audio, graphics, saved profiles and in-app permissions. With the introduction of the Android Marshmallow 6 and Nougat 7 operating systems, users can expand storage capacity on smartphones by selecting the microSD card as preferred or adoptable storage, which means apps can now be loaded and launched directly from the A1 microSD card. For more information on the new A1 specification, please review the SD Association’s white paper: Application Performance Class: The new class of performance for applications on SD memory cards.

Western Digital is working closely with leading mobile technology industry leaders to deliver an even better consumer app experience with the A1 standard.

“Qualcomm Technologies has always been focused on supporting new opportunities in the mobile ecosystem, and we are excited to be a part of promoting new standards, and related products including the SanDisk portfolio of A1 microSD cards, that drive the industry to create improved solutions for consumers,” said Anand Srinivasan, director, product management, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

The A1 standard is also supported by top ecosystem players including HTC, Huawei, Lava, Lenovo, MediaTek, Meizu, Micromax, Oppo, Vivo and ZTE.

New SanDisk Extreme microSD card with A1

The new 256GB SanDisk Extreme microSD card with A1 delivers fast transfer and improved app performance for Android™ based smartphones. Ideal for 4K UHD and Full HD video3, the SanDisk Extreme microSD card offers the capacity and performance consumers need to capture amazing videos, without having to worry about what to delete and with the ability to transfer big files at speeds of up to 100 MB/s*. The 256GB SanDisk Extreme microSD card with A1 will begin rolling out worldwide in late March 2017 with a U.S. MSRP of $199.99.

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. For more information, please visit www.hgst.com, www.wd.com, and www.sandisk.com.

About SanDisk

SanDisk, a Western Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: WDC) brand, provides trusted and innovative flash storage products that have transformed the electronics industry. SanDisk’s quality, state-of-the-art solutions are at the heart of many of the world's largest data centers, and embedded in advanced smartphones, tablets and PCs. SanDisk’s consumer products are available at hundreds of thousands of retail stores worldwide.

Forward-Looking Statements

This news release includes forward-looking statements, including the expected availability and performance of the 256GB SanDisk Extreme microSDXC card its features, availability, and their benefits to customers. There are a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate including, among others: 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.

1Western Digital “Mobile App Survey” of 680 respondents, January 2017

2GB=1,000,000,000 bytes. Actual user storage less.

3Compatible device required. Full HD (1920x1080) and 4K UHD (3840 x 2160) support may vary based upon host device, file attributes and other factors. See www.sandisk.com/HD

*256GB: Up to 100MB/s read speed; up to 90MB/s write speed. 32GB-128GB: up to 90MB/s read speed; up to 60MB/s write speed. Up to 95MB/s read speed; 16GB-64GB: up to 40MB/s write speed; 128GB: up to 60MB/s write speed; 256GB: up to 90MB/s write speed. Based on internal testing; performance may be lower depending upon host device interface, usage conditions and other factors. 1MB=1,000,000 bytes.

©2017 Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates. All rights reserved. SanDisk and SanDisk Extreme are registered trademarks or trademarks of Western Digital Corporation or its affiliates in the US and/or other countries. The SD, microSD, and microSDXC marks and logos are trademarks of SD-3C, LLC. Android and Google Play are trademarks of Google Inc. All other marks are the property of their respective owners.

Western Digital Technologies, Inc. is the seller of record and licensee in the Americas of SanDisk® products.