Buffalo Technology, a leading supplier of various high-performance PC components, said this week that its MiniStation Thunderbolt portable hard drive outsold all other Thunderbolt technology enabled storage devices in the U.S. retail channel, according to the monthly hard drive tracking service from the NPD Group. The reason of the success is simple: the hard drive also supports USB 3.0.

The MiniStation Thunderbolt, announced in mid-June 2012, is among the world's first portable Thunderbolt and USB 3.0 dual-interface external hard drive, which is why it easily managed to outsell rivals that support only Thunderbolt or USB 3.0  interface. Since there are Apple Macintosh computers without USB 3.0, but with Thunderbolt, it makes sense to buy the external hard drive with the newest interface developed by Apple and Intel. At the same time, MiniStation Thunderbolt portable hard drive can also be used with USB 3.0-equipped PCs.

"In its second month, after only one full month of sales, the MiniStation Thunderbolt has superseded the competition, placing Buffalo at the pinnacle of the fast-growing Thunderbolt storage market," said Matthew Dargis, vice president of North American sales at Buffalo Technology.

Given the fact that MiniStation Thunderbolt portable hard drives are equipped with 500GB and 1TB hard disk drives with Serial ATA-3Gb/s interface, they can never take full advantage of either USB 3.0 (5Gb/s) or Thunderbolt (10Gb/s).

Buffalo's MiniStation Thunderbolt is available now for $179.99 for the 500 GB (HD-PA500TU3) and $229.99 for the 1 TB (HD-PA1.0TU3), is backed by a limited three-year warranty that includes toll-free 24/7 technical support. Buffalo products can be purchased through distributors, online resellers and Buffalo's website.

Tags: Buffalo, Thunderbolt, HDD, USB