The need of faster data transmission between external devices and host computer is higher and higher and mostly because of this, the global sales of USB 3.0 devices are projected to reach at least 3 billion units by 2018.
As we all know, today, the USB standard has become a need for most electronic devices on the market. Since its introduction in the mid-90s, USB has provided a hassle free connection, efficient and fast for many peripheral devices. Imagine how to connect our media players, digital cameras, disk drives, network adapters, keyboards, pointing devices and many other devices without the help of the USB interface. And due to its amazing flexibility and universal compatibility, USB technology has grown to unprecedented levels.
The USB standard’s popularity
But the USB standard’s popularity comes mainly due to its adaptability. It was evolving in the same time with the consumers’ needs and it’s doing so right now with the version 3.0, which was initially released in 2009. This new version of USB brings many performance improvements, the most important ones for the end-user being the transfer rates, up to 4.8 Gbps, better power management capability and higher maximum bus power. Also, just as the previous versions, the USB 3.0 technology is compatible with the previous versions of USB based devices.
During the years, the need of electronic devices has risen significantly and, just in the US alone, it is expected to reach 5.8 units per person this year. In the same time, this increase is also intensifying the need of data exchange between these devices and host computers. Imagine that a high definitions camera is generating tens of gigabytes of data and all this data will be transferred to a computer for viewing, editing or storage. Digital cameras need to connect to a printer so you won’t need to download them on the computer first. Also, media players, external hard drives and flash drives are storing huge amounts of data. All this digital data requires high transfer speeds to get from one device to another. Not only this, but with the faster and faster computing rates, applications demand much better performance, regarding the connectivity, between computers and their advanced peripherals.
Because it is able to satisfy these needs, USB 3.0 technology gathers more and more popularity and soon, it will become a necessity for the next generation computer devices. By now, USB 3.0 interface has penetrated the PC market quite well, as most new computers and laptops or notebooks are shipped with USB 3.0 ports. And this trend will continue and will increase.
Market research report on USB 3.0
The new market research report on USB 3.0 states that AsiaPac is one of the fastest growing markets in the world, with projected CAGR of 78.9% in the analysis period. And among the USB 3.0 chip manufacturers we can point out Fujitsu Limited, Intel Corporation, VIA Technologies, LucidPort Technology and many others. In the report, major USB 3.0 devices manufacturers include Apple Inc., SanDisk Corporation, HP, Kingston Technology Corporation, Seagate Technology LLC and many many more.
This new market research report was announced by Global Industry Analysts or GIA and it also provides market trends, company profiles, acquisitions and other activities in the industry. For more in-depth data, you can find the report here, entitled USB 3.0 : A Global Strategic Business Report.