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                                                                    EXHIBIT 10.3

                                AMENDMENT TO THE
                       HUTCHINSON TECHNOLOGY INCORPORATED
                             1988 STOCK OPTION PLAN
                APPROVED BY RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
                          EFFECTIVE AS OF JULY 23, 2003

                  RESOLVED, that Section 8(a) of the Hutchinson Technology
         Incorporated 1988 Stock Option Plan (the "Plan") is hereby renumbered
         as Section 8(a)(i) and is hereby amended and restated in its entirety
         to read 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 (other than as provided
                  in Section 8(a)(ii) below), 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. In the case of
                  an employee who is disabled (within the meaning of Section
                  22(e)(3) of the Code), the three month period in the
                  immediately preceding sentence shall be extended to three
                  years after termination of such individual's employment and
                  the requirement that the option may be exercised only with
                  respect to the shares for which the option was exercisable
                  immediately prior to such termination of employment shall be
                  eliminated in the circumstances set forth in Section 8(c)."

                  FURTHER RESOLVED, that a new Section 8(a)(ii) be added to the
         Plan to follow immediately after Section 8(a)(i) and that the new
         Section 8(a)(ii) shall read in its entirety as follows:

                  "Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 8(a)(i), an option
                  agreement may state that a non-qualified stock option shall be
                  transferable to (x) any member of an employee's "immediate
                  family" (as such term is defined in Rule 16a-1(e) promulgated
                  under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or any
                  successor rule or regulation), (y) one or more trusts whose
                  beneficiaries are members of such employee's "immediate
                  family" or such employee, or (z) partnerships in which such
                  family members or such employee are the only partners;
                  provided, however, that the employee receives no consideration
                  for the transfer. Any non-qualified stock option held by a
                  permitted transferee shall continue to be subject to the same
                  terms and conditions that were applicable to such
                  non-qualified stock option immediately prior to its transfer
                  and any may be exercised by such permitted transferee as and
                  to the extent that such non-qualified stock option has become
                  exercisable and has not terminated in accordance with the
                  provisions of this Plan and the applicable agreement. For
                  purposes of any provision of the Plan relating to notice to a
                  holder of an option or to vesting or termination of a
                  non-qualified stock option upon the termination of employment
                  by such individual, the references to such option holder shall
                  mean the original grantee of the non-qualified stock option
                  and not any permitted transferee. Except as set forth above,
                  no option shall be assignable or transferable by the
                  individual to whom it is granted otherwise than by will or the
                  laws of descent and distribution."