EXHIBIT 10.3

                                AMENDMENTS TO THE
                       HUTCHINSON TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
                             1988 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                APPROVED BY RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
                                 EFFECTIVE AS OF
                                JANUARY 29, 2003

         NOW, THEREFORE, IT IS HEREBY RESOLVED, that the first sentence of
Paragraph 8(a) of the [Hutchinson Technology Incorporated 1988 Stock Option Plan
(the "1988 Plan")] is hereby amended to read in its entirety as follows:

                  "During  the lifetime of an  individual to whom an
         option  is granted,  only such  individual  or his guardian
         or legal representative may  exercise the option, and  only
         while such individual is an  employee of  the Company or of
         a parent or subsidiary thereof, and only if such individual
         has been continuously so employed since the date the option
         was  granted,  except that,  subject to paragraph 8(d), (i)
         such individual may exercise the option within three months
         after  termination  of  such individual's employment if the
         option   was   exercisable   immediately   prior   to  such
         termination,  and  (ii)  if  (x)  such  individual has been
         employed  by  the Company or a parent or subsidiary thereof
         for at least ten years (whether or not consecutive) and (y)
         such individual's  employment with  the Company or a parent
         or subsidiary thereof terminates  after such individual has
         reached age 55, then  the  option  may  be exercised at any
         time  within   three  (3)  years  following  the  day  such
         individual's  employment  by  the  Company  or  a parent or
         subsidiary  thereof  ceases  if  the option was exercisable
         immediately prior to termination of employment."

         FURTHER RESOLVED, that the reference to "one year" in the second
sentence of Paragraph 8(a) of the 1988 Plan is hereby replaced by a reference to
"three years".

         FURTHER RESOLVED, that the reference to "one year" in Paragraph 8(b) of
the 1988 Plan is hereby replaced by a reference to "three years".