14 DAY TRIAL // Now that USB 3.0 is finding it increasingly easy to show up on practically any PC platform, the SuperSpeed standard really is expected to become mainstream, although likely not within the next two years.
As end-users know, the SuperSpeed USB 3.0 standard has been gaining traction a bit more quickly this year (it is ten times faster than USB 2.0, running at up to 5 Gbps).
In fact, most new motherboards and notebooks were created with at least one USB 3.0 connector, so as to allow consumers to fully utilize their high-speed storage devices.
Granted, until sales of both AMD and Intel chipsets with native support for the interface start, mainstream status is mostly out of the question.
Digitimes decided to report an in-depth interview with Dan Harmon, interface product marketing manager at Texas Instruments.
According to him, sales of USB 3.0 controller chips should really take off in the second half of 2011, since it is then that branded desktop and notebook vendors are poised to really launch many USB 3.0-connected systems.
Depending on how things go from there, the number of sold controller chips should be able to reach over 1 billion a year by the time 2013 comes and goes.
Needless to say, backwards compatibility with USB 2.0 is a plus, as is the higher recharging efficiency.
Of course, when AMD and Intel to get around to integrating support for the technology, those companies that have been making USB 3.0 controller chips will likely have to revize their strategies (make more controller hubs perhaps).
Coincidentally, this report comes at a time when Intel is meaning to actually battle the Universal Serial Bus by means of the Light Peak technology.
With the first iteration set to launch in a day or so, it remains to be seen if this highly scalable connectivity standard proves formidable enough o put a dent in USB 3.0 predictions.