USB SuperSpeed-enabled device shipments to reach 80M

The USB SuperSpeed standard first came out in 2010 and 2011 is seen to be a bigger year for the technology. This is especially true in mobile PCs driven by the first chipsets manufactured by AMD that integrates the SuperSpeed tech into the core logic chipset. Intel is set to release its own Ivy Bridge chipset in 2012 using the same technology.

As companies adopt USB SuperSpeed into their next-generation devices, In-Stat forecasts that shipments of USB SuperSpeed-enabled devices will reach 80 million this year.

Brian O'Rouke, research director at In-Stat, said that mobile phones are a key driver for USB market growth, and that this will also play a role in the adoption of SuperSpeed USB.

"In 2010, USB was found internally in over 1.2 billion mobile phones, with high-speed USB dominating. In addition, the number of USB ports in phones increased to over 100 million units. The first SuperSpeed USB phones will not hit the market until late 2013, but they will be accompanied by a new SuperSpeed connector for phones that will succeed the current micro-USB port found in today's phones," O'Rouke said.

All this is seen in In-Stat's new research entitled,锟?"USB 2011: SuperSpeed Comes to Market," whichcovers the worldwide Market for USB technology.

The report also reveals that more than 3.5 billion USB devices were shipped in 2010 and that high-speed USB is still the most popular USB interface, comprising over three-quarters of USB device shipments in that year.

According to the report, core logic integration is a key to the acceptance of a new USB specification, because it allows notoriously cost-conscious PC OEMs to offer it for free. The report further noted that CE continues to be a key product segment for USB, with digital still cameras, digital televisions (DTV), set top boxes, and portable media players (PMP) among the most popular applications.