The potential to eliminate other connections to save space and allow smaller designs in the future is driving quicker integration of SuperSpeed USB into netbooks and other mobile PCs, reports In-Stat. Today, 97% of the mobile PC market uses USB 2.0, however by 2014 In-Stat expects the market to transition completely to SuperSpeed USB.

“In the past, new interface technologies were adopted more quickly in desktops. However, the landscape is shifting. Mobile PCs are omitting optical and large hard disk drives, which increases the need for faster interfaces to connect to external storage solutions. This makes SuperSpeed USB a higher priority in mobile PCs,” said Brian O’Rourke, In-Stat analyst.

The market tracking company claims that high-speed USB is expected to peak in 2011 at 2.9 billion units and then start to decrease slowly over the remainder of the forecast as SuperSpeed gains traction. The USB 3.0 will sweep through the USB-enabled hard drive market by 2013 and 225 million SuperSpeed USB flash drives will ship in 2014.

The USB 3.0-based devices will also get more affordable: from 2009 to 2014, the average selling price of SuperSpeed USB discrete peripheral controllers will experience a -21.8% CAGR.

It is rather noteworthy that In-Stat expects the share of USB-connected monitors to grow rather rapidly. The USB penetration of the LCD monitor market will see a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 107.5% from 2009 to 2014.

Tags: USB