Limited Warranty for Western Digital® and SanDisk® Commercial Hardware Flash-based Drive Products

PLEASE CAREFULLY READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE PURCHASING, OPENING, OR OTHERWISE USING THE PRODUCT MANUFACTURED BY SANDISK TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (“MANUFACTURER”). YOUR USE OF THE PRODUCT CONSTITUTES AGREEMENT WITH THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS LIMITED WARRANTY STATEMENT (“AGREEMENT”). IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT, DO NOT USE THE PRODUCT.

A. Warranty Information

1. This warranty ("Warranty") is provided by SanDisk Technologies, Inc. and its applicable subsidiaries (collectively, "Manufacturer"), is non-transferable, and applies only to the Commercial Hardware Drive Products identified in the Table in Section F below (each, a "Product"). The Warranty is provided solely to the original end user purchaser of this Product (“Customer”).

2. This Warranty does not cover purchases of the Products from a Reseller by a party who is not intending to be the end user of the product. The warranty and support for that product must be initiated by the distributing or reselling party from which the purchase was made ("Reseller") on that party’s behalf.

3. This Warranty does not cover counterfeit, fake, or grey market products. Manufacturer will not provide any support for any Products (i) that Manufacturer has not transported (or authorized for transport) into the country of sale and/or (ii) that are not sold through authorized channels.

4. Each Product is intended only for commercial use and should not be used by consumers or households. This Warranty does not cover any personal non-commercial use of the Product. If you have purchased this product from an authorized retail outlet for personal non-commercial use, please refer to the applicable provisions in the retail warranty for the Product found at https://www.sandisk.com/warranty.

5. If Customer’s Product includes separate standalone software programs provided by Manufacturer (e.g. SSD Dashboard), the use of those programs is governed by the end user license agreement accompanying that program and not this Agreement.

B. Warranty Period Technical Support Information

1. Any technical support issues or warranty claims for the Products should be processed through the party from whom Customer purchased the Product.

2. If the Product in question is embedded or pre-installed into a third-party device or computer system, Customer should contact the manufacturer of record for the third-party product for primary technical support and warranty claims.

3. If Customer purchased this product directly from Manufacturer, then Customer may seek technical support by contacting Customer Service within the Warranty Period by email at support@SanDisk.com or at the telephone number for Customer’s region found at https://www.sandisk.com/support/international-phone-numbers. Such technical support shall only address errors which are solely attributable to the manufacture of the Product.

C. Warranty Terms

1. Manufacturer warrants to Customer that this Product, excluding content and/or software (if applicable) supplied with or within the Product, will, during the applicable Warranty Period (as defined below) specified below under normal use conditions, (a) be free from material defects in material or workmanship and, (b) will materially conform to Manufacturer's published product Specifications (as defined below). A Product will be considered to have a material defect or to be materially defective only if such Product does not meet the stated design lifetime (up to the applicable Warranty Period) and is returned to the appropriate location within the Warranty Period and subject to applicable performance threshold information contained in the Product's datasheet (as produced or provided by Manufacturer).

“Specifications” shall mean operational elements, features, reliability characteristics and functional design specifications for a Product stated in the Product specifications (i.e., documents labeled as “specification” or “data sheet” and such Product’s qualification report). 

2. This Warranty does not cover any damage to this Product which results from accident, abuse, misuse, natural or personal disaster, improper installation, the presence of a third party product within a computer system, or any unauthorized disassembly, repair or modification. It is possible for a Product to be used under conditions which cause the media to wear out (and the Warranty to expire) prior to the expiration of the stated time period in the Warranty Period, as specified in the applicable endurance specification.

3. In the event of a conflict between the terms of this Agreement and any existing valid set of warranty terms between Customer and Manufacturer, the terms between Customer and Manufacturer shall take precedence over this Agreement. However, this Agreement shall take precedence over the preprinted terms on all Customer forms including, but not limited to, purchase orders issued by Customer.

D. Warranty Claims

1. To make a warranty claim, Customer may either (a) contact the Reseller within the Warranty Period and provide proof of purchase and the returning party's original purchase status (showing date, place of purchase and name of the Reseller as applicable) and product name, type and number or (b) receive a RMA number from Manufacturer and follow Manufacturer’s warranty return procedures. Only the Customer is entitled to exercise the Warranty, and such Customer must return the Product following the guidelines listed by Reseller and/or Manufacturer, including a detailed statement of the problem sufficient to readily reproduce the problem. Manufacturer reserves the right, at its discretion, to direct the Customer to return products through the Reseller.

2. A return may be required to another country other than the country in which the Customer is located and/or purchased the Product.

3. If Customer purchased the Product directly from Manufacturer and believes that it fails to comply with the warranty, then Customer will abide by Manufacturer’s then-current Return Material Authorization (“RMA”) process and Customer shall request an RMA number from Customer Service upon presenting a summary of the defect. Manufacturer will then issue an RMA number to Customer, together with instructions on shipping to Manufacturer the Product believed by Customer to be defective. Customer will return any such Product believed to be defective in an appropriate container, which will conspicuously bear the RMA number Customer obtains from Manufacturer prior to return. Products returned to Manufacturer under this section, and any repaired or replaced Products under this Exhibit, will be delivered to and from Manufacturer at Manufacturer’s expense and risk. Manufacturer (or a contractor of Manufacturer) shall assess the Product and, upon finding a defect, process the return at Manufacturer’s sole expense. If Manufacturer determines that a defect does not exist in such Product, Customer will reimburse Manufacturer for all expenses associated with the return of such Product. Products improperly labelled, packaged or shipped may result in a voiding of the warranty for that Product. Manufacturer is not responsible for damage incurred during shipping to our RMA receiving locations.

4. Manufacturer may elect to repair or replace any non-conforming Product. Such replacement will be made with a new or reconditioned Product of equal or greater functionality as the returned Product. If Manufacturer is not able to repair or replace the non-conforming Product, or if such options are not commercially reasonable, then Manufacturer shall provide Customer a credit for the non-conforming Product. The value of the credit shall be, at Manufacturer’s discretion, either (a) the replacement value of the non-conforming Product or (b) the purchase value of the non-conforming Product, prorated for the length of the warranty term during which Customer was denied use of the Product. An obsolete or discontinued product may be replaced with the same Product or, if a replacement is not available, a Product having similar function and capacity. Customer’s remedy under this section may be conditioned on Manufacturer’s requirement that the Product be physically returned.

5. Manufacturer is not responsible for any loss or damage to data as part of the RMA process. Customer understands that Manufacturer may have inadvertent access to the data on the returned Product during the RMA process. In order to protect sensitive data from disclosure, Manufacturer recommends deletion of as much sensitive data from the Product as technically possible before sending the Product for RMA processing. If it is not the case that all data is or can be removed, the Customer shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Manufacturer and the Reseller for any possible liability associated with the potential presence in the returned Product of sensitive and/or personal data, regardless of whether this data relates to the Customer or any other third party.

6. Manufacturer shall not be liable for (a) any incidental, indirect, special, exemplary, punitive or consequential damages, including but not limited to loss of profits and/or loss of data, other loss, damage or expense directly or indirectly arising from any defect or inability to use the Product or poor performance, either separately or in combination with other equipment, regardless of whether Manufacturer or the Customer has been advised of the possibility of such damages, nor (b) any amounts in the aggregate in excess of the purchase price paid for the applicable Product(s). Manufacturer is not liable for and does not cover under this Warranty, any costs associated with servicing, testing and/or the installation of Western Digital® or SanDisk® products, including the Product. This Warranty sets forth the entire liability and obligations of Manufacturer with respect to defects, breach of warranty, data loss or any other failure to perform or meet the Specifications associated with any Products.

7. Manufacturer products, including the Product, must not be used in applications where a failure or malfunction of the Product may threaten life or result in an injury, loss of property or damage to the environment, including without limitation, as critical components in aviation, automotive, nuclear, medical or life support systems (or any other form of ultra-hazardous applications) ("Critical Applications"), and under no circumstances shall Manufacturer have any Warranty or other obligations arising from any such Product uses. Without derogating from the above, unless specifically designated as such by Manufacturer in the Product Specifications, the Products are not designed or intended for use in automotive systems or applications. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY, AS PRODUCTS HAVE VARIED FAILURE RATES AND A LIMITED USEFUL LIFE PERIOD WITH ENDURANCE LIMITS, THE RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE DESIGN, MANUFACTURING AND ADEQUATE TESTING OF CUSTOMER'S APPLICATIONS, SYSTEMS AND DEVICES USING PRODUCTS HEREIN LIES SOLELY WITH CUSTOMER. CUSTOMER IS RESPONSIBLE FOR PUTTING IN PLACE SAFETY MEASURES AND APPROPRIATE REDUNDANCIES, FAULT TOLERANT AND BACK-UP FEATURES SUFFICIENT TO PROTECT END USERS FROM ANY RISK OF DAMAGE, INJURY OR DEATH RESULTING FROM ANY FAILURE OR ANY OTHER ISSUE IN THE UTILIZATION OF THE PRODUCTS IN OR BY CUSTOMER'S APPLICATIONS, SYSTEMS OR DEVICES WHEN DEALING WITH CRITICAL APPLICATIONS AND SHALL OTHERWISE PROVIDE END USERS WITH ALERTS, USE AND MAINTENANCE INSTRUCTIONS TO AVOID SUCH RISKS.

E. DISCLAIMER

THE WARRANTY STATED HEREIN IS THE CUSTOMER’S SOLE SOURCE OF WARRANTY RIGHTS ASSOCIATED WITH PRODUCTS, AND IS IN LIEU OF ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY AND NONINFRINGEMENT, ALL OF WHICH ARE HEREBY DISCLAIMED. NO WARRANTY RIGHTS ARE GRANTED TO ANY PARTY OTHER THAN THE CUSTOMER OF THE PRODUCT. THE LAWS OF CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS MAY CONFER OTHER RIGHTS WHICH ARE NOT AFFECTED BY THIS WARRANTY.

F. Warranty Period

1. The term of the Warranty ("Warranty Period") referred to above is measured in calendar years and begins upon the shipment date of the Product by Manufacturer.

For the following group of products, The Warranty Period expires at the end of the earlier of (a) the stated time period for the Product identified below or (b) the point at which Customer’s use of the Product exceeds the stated endurance limit, which is (i) the time at which such Product’s total cumulative data (as recorded on the Product’s S.M.A.R.T. attribute (E6h/230) “Media Wear Out Indicator”) reaches 100% of the Product’s endurance value; or (ii) the Product’s total Terabytes Written (TBW) as identified in the table below or in the Specifications for the Product. In the event of a conflict between the table below and the Specifications, the Specifications shall take precedence.