News

The Bus Rolls on for USB (9/3/2004)

The Universal Serial Bus (USB) saw continued success in 2003, according to high-tech market research firm In-Stat/MDR. With continued adoption of USB in the consumer electronics and communications segments, and the rapid introduction of high-speed USB into PCs and PC peripherals, the total market for USB-enabled devices will experience 18.3% annual growth between 2003 and 2008.

"By all accounts the USB standard has been a huge success," says Brian O'Rourke, a Senior Analyst with In-Stat/MDR. "And USB will see continued success in a variety of applications." The transition from full-speed to high-speed USB is progressing rapidly. "The killer application for high-speed USB is the fact that it is backwards compatible with the hundreds of millions of low-speed and full-speed USB devices already on the market," O'Rourke said.

In-Stat/MDR has also found that:

* High speed USB was in about 4 out of 5 PCs shipped in 2003, and will be in nearly all PCs shipping in 2004.

* In the PC peripheral market, high speed USB is in an increasing number of devices, particularly external drives, scanners and printers. The fastest growing market for USB in this segment is USB Flash Drives.

* In consumer electronics, applications such as digital still cameras, digital camcorders and set top boxes are seeing increased penetration of USB, particularly high speed USB.

* In communications, cable and DSL modems have rapidly adopted USB, and are currently making the transition to high speed. Routers and residential gateways are just beginning to adopt USB. The mobile phone market is beginning to adopt full speed USB, with On-The-Go as well.

The report, "USB 2004: The Bus Rolls On" (#IN0401154MI),contains five-year forecasts for Low/Full Speed USB, High Speed USB, and USB OTG. Penetration of each type of USB into 35 separate applications is provided. Responses on USB from In-Stat/MDR's annual Residential Technology Survey are included in the report. Brief profiles of major USB silicon and IP suppliers are also provided.

www.instat.com