MARCH 9--The Universal Serial Bus (USB) saw continued success in 2003, according to a report from high-tech market-research firm In-Stat/MDR (Scottsdale, AZ; www.instat.com). 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 backward compatible with the hundreds of millions of low-speed and full-speed USB devices already on the market," O'Rourke says.
In-Stat/MDR has also found that high-speed USB was in about four out of five 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.
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. To purchase this report, or for more information, see www.instat.com/catalog/Ccatalogue.asp?ID=161 . The report is US$3495.
