Wednesday, 30 April 2008

SuperSpeed USB Announcement Shakes Up USB Market

2008 will mark the first year in which shipments of high-speed USB devices will surpass shipments of low- and full-speed USB-enabled devices.

According to high-tech market research firm In-Stat, the most significant development over the past year in the USB market has been the announcement of SuperSpeed USB, the third major revision of the wired USB specification.

SuperSpeed is expected to deliver actual throughput of 3 gigabits per second (Gbps), a rate significantly higher than that of high-speed USB.

SuperSpeed USB is expected to begin shipping as discrete silicon in 2009, and broad deployment of SuperSpeed USB-enabled products is expected in 2010.

SuperSpeed USB will be targeted initially at the PC market and in devices requiring high rates and volumes of data transfer, such as external storage, CE, and communications devices with increasing amounts of storage.

Recent research by In-Stat found that :

• More than 2.6 billion USB-enabled devices shipped in 2007.

• Annual shipment growth of USB-enabled devices through 2012 will be 8.3%.