LaCie Rugged and LaCie Skwarim selected out of 5,000 entries for their pioneering and innovative design

June 11, 2006

LaCie, a leading global manufacturer of top-of-the-line digital tools, has won the 2006 Red Dot Award for Superior Product Design. The company will receive the recognition at the annual Red Dot Award ceremony to be held on June 26, 2006 at Aalto Theatre in Essen, Germany.

Two LaCie hard drives - LaCie Rugged and LaCie Skwarim - were selected for the award by an international jury of design experts from among 5,000 entrants, for their superior and innovative design in the Media and Consumer Electronics category. The winning LaCie hard drives will be displayed at a special exhibition at the Red Dot Design Museum in Essen.

Mathilde Bohrmann, LaCie Vice President of Marketing and R&D said, "LaCie is thrilled to be winning the Red Dot Award for hard drive design once again. This prestigious award validates our goal to become the most innovative external hard drive manufacturer in the business."

Since their launch in 1955, the Red Dot Awards have become an internationally recognised seal of quality for outstanding design achievement. The annual award competition is organised by Essen's Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen, the oldest and highly reputed design institution in Europe.

"LaCie has always strived to combine powerful technology with pioneering product design. We work closely with world-renowned designers such as Neil Poulton, who designed LaCie Rugged and Karim Rashid, designer of LaCie Skwarim, to ensure that technology products are not only functional but also aesthetically pleasing," Bohrmann added.

An exclusive creation, LaCie Rugged is built for the constant traveller who needs data protection from the everyday bumps and bruises of the real world. It has a unique aluminium shell and orange rubber bumper to protect it from table-height drops and comes with triple interface - FireWire 800/400, USB 2.0 - for use with Macs or PCs.

LaCie Skwarim is a stylish, portable handheld hard drive in a 3.3-inch square shape with a unique textured feel. It comes in an electric blue 60GB or dazzling pink 30GB version with an USB 2.0 interface for use with Macs or PCs.

"Receiving an award in an internationally renowned design competition such as Red Dot is an important indicator whether a product has the potential to be successful on an international scale," said Professor Dr Peter Zec, initiator of the Red Dot Design Award and President of the ICSID/International Council of Societies of Industrial Design.

"Many companies participating in the Red Dot competition have been successfully investing in innovation and design for a long time in order to stand out from the competition and to convey their brand values. However, creativity by itself is not enough - the products also have to be of high quality. And it is also the task of design to communicate this quality," he added.

Award-winning works will be displayed at a special exhibition titled, "Design on stage - winners Red Dot Award: Product Design 2006" from June 27 to July 23, 2006 at the Red Dot Design Museum, which houses the largest permanent exhibition of contemporary design worldwide with more than 1,000 exhibits spanning 13,000 square feet that draws 120,000 visitors each month. Past recipients of the Red Dot Award include products such as the Apple iPod, the Audi A6 automobile, and the Bose Wave music system.

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About Red Dot Awards:
With more than 5,000 entries in its categories Red Dot Award: Product Design, Red Dot Award: Communication Design, and Red Dot Award: Design Concept, the Red Dot Design Award is one of the leading and largest design competitions worldwide. Since 1955, the Essen Design Zentrum Nordrhein Westfalen has annually selected outstanding design quality and paid official tribute to the award-winning products in an exhibition. For further information visit the web-site www.red-dot.de.About LaCie

LaCie creates external storage solutions and colour monitors that help professionals and everyday users easily manage their digital lives. Powerful technology combined with unique designs by the internationally acclaimed Philippe Starck, Neil Poulton, Porsche Design GmbH, Ora-Ito and Karim Rashid make LaCie the world leader in storage innovation. Established in France in 1989, LaCie is now headquartered in North America, Europe and Asia and listed on the Paris Nouveau March (code 5431).

For more information, visit www.lacie.com/intl/.

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© Press Release 2006