80 Million USB 3.0 Devices to Use in 2011
USB is one of the most widely used connection technologies in the world, found on everything from PCs to tablets to printers to smartphones. Peak speeds for "SuperSpeed" USB--the official categorization for the 3.0 specification--are about 10 times that of USB 2.0, the current standard.
The primary story for USB in 2010 was the emergence of the SuperSpeed standard. 2011 should be a much bigger year for the technology, especially in mobile PCs. "This has led In-Stat to forecast that nearly 80 million USB SuperSpeed-enabled devices will ship in 2011."
Intel will follow in short order in early 2012, however, with its Ivy Bridge chips, which also have built-in support for USB 3.0. This year, Intel, along with Apple, began supporting an alternative high-speed standard called Thunderbolt.
Down the road, mobile phones will also begin to sport USB 3.0 ports, too. "Mobile phones are a key driver for USB overall, and will play a role in the adoption of SuperSpeed USB," USB was found internally in over 1.2 billion mobile phones...The first SuperSpeed USB phones won't 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." Source
