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SANDISK ANNOUNCES FOURTH QUARTER AND FISCAL 2009 FINANCIAL RESULTS

Record Quarterly Product Revenue, Profit and Cash Flow

Milpitas, CA, January 28, 2010 - SanDisk Corporation (NASDAQ:SNDK), the global leader in flash memory cards, today announced results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 3, 2010. Total fourth quarter revenue of $1.24 billion increased 44% on a year-over-year basis and increased 33% sequentially. Total revenue for fiscal 2009 of $3.57 billion increased 6% from $3.35 billion in fiscal 2008.

Fourth quarter net income, in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP), was $340 million, or earnings of $1.45 per diluted share, compared to net loss of ($1.76) billion, or ($7.78) per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and net income of $231 million, or $0.99 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The GAAP net income for fiscal 2009 was $415 million, or $1.79 per diluted share, compared to net loss of ($1.99) billion, or ($8.82) per share, in fiscal 2008.

On a non-GAAP basis, which excludes the impact of acquisition-related charges, share-based compensation expense, impairment of goodwill and acquisition-related intangible assets, non-cash economic interest expense associated with the cash-settled convertible note, and related tax adjustments and valuation allowance, fourth-quarter net income was $277 million, or $1.18 per diluted share, compared to a net loss of ($359) million, or ($1.59) per share, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and net income of $176 million, or $0.75 per diluted share, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. The non-GAAP net income for fiscal 2009 was $427 million, or $1.84 per diluted share, compared to net loss of ($466) million, or ($2.07) per share, in fiscal 2008. For reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP results, see accompanying financial tables and footnotes.

"We delivered a terrific fourth quarter in 2009 - our best performance ever in product revenue, profit and cash flow. These results demonstrate the success of the actions that we took this past year, including restructuring our captive supply and diversifying our OEM and retail channels that resulted in unit sales growth of 55% and gigabyte growth of 100% compared to the fourth quarter of 2008. Product gross margin was sharply higher due to continued strong cost reductions and stable pricing," said Eli Harari, Chairman and CEO, SanDisk. "In 2010, we look forward to solid growth in our markets with a continued emphasis on profitability."

FOURTH QUARTER FISCAL 2009 METRICS & HIGHLIGHTS

• Total revenue was $1.24 billion, up 44% year-over-year and up 33% sequentially.
  • Product revenue was $1.14 billion, up 54% year-over-year and up 40% sequentially.
  • License and royalty revenue was $100 million, down 18% year-over-year and down 18% sequentially.
• GAAP product gross profit was $501 million, or 44% of product revenue, compared to GAAP product gross loss of ($462) million, or (62%) of product revenue, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and GAAP product gross profit of $315 million, or 39% of product revenue, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Fourth quarter product gross profit included a $95 million benefit primarily from the sale of previously reserved inventory.
• Non-GAAP product gross profit was $509 million, or 45% of product revenue, compared to non-GAAP product gross loss of ($449) million, or (61%) of product revenue, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and non-GAAP product profit of $320 million, or 39% of product revenue, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009. Fourth quarter product gross profit included a $95 million benefit primarily from the sale of previously reserved inventory.
• GAAP operating profit was $376 million, or 30% of total revenue, compared to GAAP operating loss of ($1.63) billion, or (188%) of total revenue, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and GAAP operating profit of $240 million, or 26% of total revenue, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009.
• Non-GAAP operating profit was $417 million, or 34% of total revenue, compared to non-GAAP operating loss of ($568) million, or (66%) of total revenue, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and non-GAAP operating profit of $263 million, or 28% of total revenue, in the third quarter of fiscal 2009.
• Cash flow from operations was $388 million and free cash flow was $431 million.
• Total cash and equivalents, short and long-term investments at the end of the fourth quarter were $3.02 billion compared to $2.54 billion at the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2008 and $2.58 billion at the end of the third quarter of fiscal 2009.
• Total memory units sold in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 increased 55% year-over-year and increased 22% sequentially.
• Gigabytes sold in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 increased 100% year-over-year and increased 44% sequentially.
• Average price per gigabyte sold in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009 declined 23% year-over-year and declined 2% sequentially.

FULL-YEAR FISCAL 2009 KEY FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS

• GAAP product gross margin was 27.6% compared to (15.7%) in fiscal 2008.
• Non-GAAP product gross margin was 28.4% compared to (13.4%) in fiscal 2008.
• GAAP operating margin was 14.6% compared to (58.9%) in fiscal 2008.
• Non-GAAP operating margin was 17.6% compared to (23.4%) in fiscal 2008.
• Operating cash flow was $488 million compared to $88 million in fiscal 2008.
• Free cash flow was $438 million compared to ($338) million in fiscal 2008.

CONFERENCE CALL

SanDisk's fourth quarter 2009 conference call is scheduled for 2:00 P.M., Pacific Time, Thursday, January 28, 2010. The conference call will be webcast and can be accessed live, and throughout the quarter, at SanDisk's website at www.sandisk.com/IR. To participate in the call via telephone, the dial-in number is 719-457-2631 and the dial-in password is 1423107. A copy of this press release will be furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission on a current report on Form 8-K and will be posted to our website prior to the conference call.

A complete reconciliation between GAAP and non-GAAP information referred to in this release is provided in the attached tables.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This news release contains certain forward-looking statements, including statements about our business prospects and outlook, our expectations for fiscal year 2010 and our expectations regarding our business, including our retail and OEM businesses, and continued cost reductions, that are based on our current expectations and are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate and may significantly harm our business, financial condition and results of operations. Risks that may cause these forward-looking statements to be inaccurate include among others:

• competitive pricing pressures, resulting in lower average selling prices and lower or negative product gross margins;
• expansion of supply from existing competitors and ourselves creating excess market supply, causing our average selling prices to decline faster than our costs;
• unpredictable or changing demand for our products, particularly for certain form factors or capacities;
• excess captive memory output or capacity which could result in write-downs for excess inventory, lower of cost or market reserves, fixed costs associated with under-utilized capacity, or other consequences;
• inability to maintain or grow sales through our new channels to which we are selling private label products, wafers and components or potential loss of branded product sales as a result;
• insufficient non-memory materials or capacity from our suppliers and contract manufacturers to meet demand; or increases in cost of non-memory materials or capacity;
• less than anticipated demand, including due to economic weakness in our markets; and
• other risks detailed from time-to-time under the caption "Risk Factors" and elsewhere in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings and reports, including, but not limited to, our Annual Report on Form 10-K/A for the fiscal year ended December 28, 2008 and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the third quarter ended September 27, 2009.

Future results may differ materially from those previously reported. We do not intend to update the information contained in this release.

ABOUT SANDISK

SanDisk Corporation, the inventor and world's largest supplier of flash storage cards, is a global leader in flash memory - from research, manufacturing and product design to consumer branding and retail distribution. SanDisk's product portfolio includes flash memory cards for mobile phones, digital cameras and camcorders, digital audio/video players, USB flash drives for consumers and the enterprise, embedded memory for mobile devices, and solid state drives for computers. SanDisk (www.sandisk.com/corporate) is a Silicon Valley-based S&P 500 company with more than half its sales outside the United States.

SanDisk and the SanDisk logo are trademarks of SanDisk Corporation, registered in the United States and other countries. Other brand names mentioned herein are for identification purposes only and may be the trademarks of their respective holder(s).

SanDisk Supporting Document(.pdf)