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News Release

September 18, 1998

Production is Halted at Ibaraki Semicon Material Co., Ltd.

Hitachi, Ltd.(NYSE:HIT) and Hitachi Tokyo Electronics Co., Ltd. today announced that on October 20, 1998, Ibaraki Semicon Material Co., Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hitachi Tokyo Electronics, will freeze production of epitaxial wafers.*

To provide the Hitachi Group with a stable supply of wafers, Hitachi Tokyo Electronics produces mirror wafers and other silicon wafers and Ibaraki Semicon Material was established in May 1996 to process mirror wafers into epitaxial wafers for use in semiconductor MOS-based devices.

However, amid the prolonged slump in the semiconductor market, growth in demand for wafers has not been up to initial expectations. As part of the restructuring of Hitachi's semiconductor operations, production of epitaxial wafers at Ibaraki Semicon Material will be halted.

The approximately 150 employees of Ibaraki Semicon Material, where production is to be frozen, will be reassigned back to their original departments or moved to Hitachi Tokyo Electronics.

*Note: Epitaxial wafers:
Wafers formed by vapor-phase growth of a layer or layers of silicon single-crystal on a mirror wafer substrate. The result is high-purity, defect-free layers, and these wafers are therefore being increasingly applied to high-density LSIs, where they are expected to raise productivity.

Outline of Companies
Name: Hitachi Tokyo Electronics Co., Ltd.
Location: 3-3-2, Fujihashi, Ome-shi, Tokyo
Establishment: May 21, 1963
Employees: Approximately 1,900
Capital: 600 million yen (100% owned by Hitachi, Ltd.)
Business: Manufacture of semiconductor devices, semiconductor equipment, silicon wafers
President: Yoshihito Shirai

Name: Ibaraki Semicon Material Co., Ltd.
Location: 762, Nakahara Horiguchi, Hitachinaka-shi, Ibaraki Prefecture
Establishment: May 2, 1996
Employees: Approximately 150
Capital: 50 million yen (100% owned by Hitachi Tokyo Electronics)
Business: Manufacture and sales of epitaxial wafers
President: Hiroyuki Katano

About Hitachi
Hitachi, Ltd., headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, is one of the world's leading global electronics companies, with fiscal 1997 (ended March 31, 1998) consolidated sales of 8,417 billion yen (63.8 billion dollars*). The company manufactures and markets a wide range of products, including computers, semiconductors, consumer products and power and industrial equipment. For more information on Hitachi, Ltd., please visit Hitachi's Web site at http://www.hitachi.co.jp.
*At an exchange rate of 132 yen to the dollar.

WRITTEN BY Secretary's Office
All Rights Reserved, Copyright (C) 1998, Hitachi, Ltd.