GOVERNMENT

SAN DIEGO, CA -- Overland Data Inc. (Nasdaq:OVRL) today reported revenue and net income for the first quarter of its fiscal year 2002 that exceeded both original analyst estimates as well as higher expectations reset by the company in a previously issued preliminary release. For the quarter ended September 30, 2001, Overland reported revenue of $39,972,000, up 6% from revenue of $37,727,000 in the same period of the prior year. Net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 2002 totaled $1,050,000, or $0.10 per share, compared to $1,305,000, or $0.12 per share, for the same period of the prior year. The revenue growth reflects a strong performance by the Company's recently introduced Neo(TM) series of tape library products. The reduced profitability results from a lower gross margin of 23.3% for the quarter ended September 30, 2001 as compared to 28.0% in the first quarter of fiscal year 2001. This reflects a higher concentration of sales generated by new products which initially generate lower gross margins until their costs are reduced by economies to be realized from ramping production volumes. Partially offsetting the decline in gross profit, however, were lower operating expenses during the first quarter of fiscal year 2002. Operating expenses for the first quarter of fiscal year 2002 were 19.9% of sales, down from 22.2% of sales in the same quarter of the prior year primarily due to reduced research and development expenses. This expense reduction resulted from the Company's exit from the entry-level tape drive business in June 2001 and its completion of the Neo development. Christopher Calisi, President and CEO of Overland, stated, "Considering the continued sluggishness in the economy and the impact of the tragic events of September 11, we are very pleased with our performance for the first quarter of fiscal year 2002. We are especially gratified by the rapid growth in sales of our Neo tape library system, which we began shipping in March of this year. On a sequential basis, Neo sales more than doubled over last quarter and it has become the most successful product introduction in Overland's history. We believe that the marketplace is recognizing the enhanced feature set of Neo and that as the economy strengthens, it will further drive sales in both our OEM and branded sales channels. We will continue to leverage this winning product through increased sales and marketing efforts over the next several quarters. "Also contributing to our first quarter performance," added Calisi, "was the reduction in our cost structure and operating expenses resulting from management actions taken during the second half of last year. We remain committed to managing our operations in an efficient way to improve both the level and predictability of our performance in the future. As we look forward to the second quarter of fiscal year 2002, we currently expect sequential quarterly growth in both revenues and earnings. More specifically, we estimate that revenue and earnings per share for the quarter ending December 31, 2001 will increase approximately 5% and 30%, respectively. And, in the long term, we continue to believe that the midrange segment of the storage marketplace will experience the fastest growth and will benefit from an increased focus on disaster recovery and protection of critical corporate data."