Google Answers Logo
View Question
 
Q: Computing - USB Thumb Drives ( Answered 5 out of 5 stars,   1 Comment )
Question  
Subject: Computing - USB Thumb Drives
Category: Computers > Hardware
Asked by: jallen62-ga
List Price: $50.00
Posted: 17 Apr 2005 13:39 PDT
Expires: 17 May 2005 13:39 PDT
Question ID: 510517
I need to know the adoption rates for these USB thumb drives. 
Specifically, when they came out and what the growth rates are
projected to be. Also, any infomration on what kinds of computer users
buy these items.
Answer  
Subject: Re: Computing - USB Thumb Drives
Answered By: bobbie7-ga on 17 Apr 2005 20:04 PDT
Rated:5 out of 5 stars
 
Hello Jallen62,

USB flash drives are compact and easy-to-use devices that are also
known as Pen drives, and Thumb drives or Keychain drives.


According to an article published on April 13, 2005 in ARS Technica,
there is a massive adoption of USB Flash drives by the average person
and you can be sure to find most people with even a basic Flash drive
in their pocket or purse.


?Some people call it a thumb drive, a keychain drive, or even a memory
stick, but we just call it a USB Flash drive (UFD). We speculated in
our Flash drive review last year that these units might replace the
floppy, the Zip disk and the CD-RW. Well, the floppy still manages to
stick around and the CD-R is not going to disappear anytime soon. But
what has changed since last year is a massive adoption of USB Flash
drives by the average Joe and Jane. Previously, most people had no
idea what a Flash drive was, but now you can be sure to find most
people with even a basic Flash drive in their pocket or purse.?

ARS Technica: April 13, 2005 
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/hardware/flash2005.ars


-----------------------------------------------------


Huge Growth

?Thumb-size USB flash drives have grown into a billion-dollar market.
More than 54 million of them were sold worldwide last year, up from
less than 2 million in 2001, according to the research firm Gartner
Dataquest. Sales are expected to top 100 million in 2006.?

The flash drive -- also known as a keychain drive, pen drive or memory
key -- is basically a flash memory card (the type used with digital
cameras) that connects to any computer with a universal serial bus
port.

New York Times: February 17, 2005
http://tech2.nytimes.com/mem/technology/techreview.html?res=9506E6DB133AF934A25751C0A9639C8B63
 

-----------------------------------------------------


According to Gartner analyst, Joseph Unsworth, by 2007, revenues could
reach $1.73 billion on unit shipments of 59.1 million, a compound
annual growth rate of 66 percent over five years,

?Total flash drive revenues reached $306 million on shipments of 13
million units in 2003, more than double the $135.6 million recorded a
year earlier, according to technology researcher Gartner in Stamford,
Conn. By 2007, revenues could reach $1.73 billion on unit shipments of
59.1 million, a compound annual growth rate of 66 percent over five
years, says Joseph Unsworth, a Gartner analyst specializing in
semiconductor memory. Over that period, the most popular drive
capacity will increase to 604MB, he adds.?

?Although dropping prices and greater awareness of USB flash drives
contributed to 2003?s strong numbers, the market is still in its
infancy, Unsworth believes.?
http://edtech.texterity.com/article/200403/22/


-----------------------------------------------------


Falling prices have boosted adoption of USB flash drives

?Falling prices have boosted adoption of USB flash drives, according
to Business 2.0 magazine. Nearly $4.5 billion worth of these drives
were sold in 2004, and that number will top $5.6 billion in 2006,
according to market research firm Web-Feet.?

IT Facts: Mar 30, 05
http://www.itfacts.biz/index.php?id=P2987


-----------------------------------------------------


?The market for USB flash drives is expected to grow from $572 million
this year to $1.7 billion in 2007, according to Gartner research cited
by SanDisk and M-Systems.?
http://www.deviceforge.com/news/NS2574858984.html


-----------------------------------------------------


USB Flash Drives Expected to Become Number One Removable Solid-State
Storage Format in 2005

?The USB Flash Drive Alliance (UFDA) today announced that USB flash
drives (UFD) are expected to become the number one removable
solid-state storage format in 2005. This new USB flash drive market
forecast is provided by industry analysts such as Gartner Dataquest,
Semico Research and Web-Feet Research.?

?Between 67 and 120 million USB flash drives are expected to ship in
2005, producing 2 to 3 billion dollars in revenues worldwide.?

?Gartner is expecting the USB flash drive market to continue its
significant growth in existing and new applications and markets.
"According to our latest research, we forecast that the USB flash
drive will lead all removable solid-state storage formats in terms of
Revenue, Units and Megabyte shipments for calendar year 2005," said
Joseph Unsworth, senior analyst for Gartner Dataquest.?
http://www.usbflashdrive.org/news/press/pr_20040504.html

-----------------------------------------------------


There are some informative tables illustrating the growth of the USB
Flash Drive Market at this direct link:
http://www.usbflashdrive.org/usbfd_marketoutlook.html
Title: USB Flash Drive Worldwide Forecast: Revenues, Units and Capacity 2004-2008 


-----------------------------------------------------


Steffen Hellmold, president of the UFDA: 

 "The analysts' forecasts support our strong belief that USB flash
drives are positioned to become the number one removable solid-state
storage format by next year surpassing Secure Digital (SD) cards and
Memory StickŪ2 cards. Given the projected growth of the USB flash
drives and the planned USB flash drive software innovations from
Microsoft, the USB flash drive category is poised to explode.?

Press release on USB Flash Drive Alliance web site
http://www.usbflashdrive.org/news/press/pr_20040504.html


-----------------------------------------------------

USB Flash Drive storage devices are becoming this generation?s floppy
disk. These devices are becoming common ways to move files between
computers. http://www.mobiletrax.com/im/2004archives/20040202.html


-----------------------------------------------------

Bar Graph:
USB Flash Drive Unit Sales 2002-2009
http://www.mobiletrax.com/pix/im/20040202/fig2.gif


-----------------------------------------------------

?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.?
http://www.storagesearch.com/usb.html



==================================
Who uses USB flash (thumb) drives?
==================================


According to Dushyant Mehta, CEO, Mediaman Infotech, USB drives are
popular with SMBs.

"You can carry up to 8 GB of data on a USB drive." The popularity of
USB drives can be attributed to their ease of use and affordability.
These devices do not require battery, software or cables.?

Says Jyotin Shah, CEO, J S Equipments, "We see a major market coming
up for portable hard disk drives and pen drives."
http://www.express-computer.com/20050328/storage03.shtml



-----------------------------------------------------


Target Market:

According to Brandon Guthrie, senior technical analyst at Crucial
Technology, the target market is the everyday consumer.

"People who work at home and in the office who need to transfer files
often from one PC to another are who we're aiming for."

"They can be handy if you work in an environment with multiple
computers or happen to own both a PC and laptop,"

?Many students use flash drives as a more convenient way of
transferring files and data from campus computers to their personal
machines.?

?The UFDA predicted that American consumers would buy more than 5
million flash drives in 2003. But the number was closer to 30 million
according to SigmaTel, a computer hardware manufacturer. The company
expects sales to grow to 250 million by the year 2007.?

The Daily Texan: Jan. 26, 2004
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/01/26/Focus/Phasing.Out.Floppies-587821.shtml

-----------------------------------------------------


Keydrives for network administration

?Keydrives are particularly popular among system and network
administrators, who load them with configuration information and with
software used for system maintenance, troubleshooting, and recovery.
The write protect feature on the keydrive is particularly useful for
such uses, as it allows the system administrator to plug a keydrive
containing anti-virus, spyware-removal, or trouble diagnosis software
onto a suspect machine without risking the transmission of a virus or
worm.?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flash_drive


-----------------------------------------------------


"USB Flash drives are increasingly popular with people who need to
share large files or to carry their files for use on different
computers," said Jim Ellis, general manager, New Business Ventures,
Imation Corp.
http://www.digitalcamerawebsites.com/node/258




=======================
When did they come out?
=======================


The Trek ThumbDrive came out in the year 2000.

?The Trek ThumbDrive came into being in Year 2000 when Trek introduced
this first USB-enabled external data storage device to the world. Over
the last three years, the Group's engineers continued to improve upon
the generic ThumbDrive solution and have now introduced to the market
more than 15 generations of ThumbDrive.?

Being a portable and convenient device, the popularity of ThumbDrive
has risen significantly over the last few years. Becoming increasingly
affordable and accessible to consumers, ThumbDrive is rapidly
replacing the traditional floppy disk with its powerful storage
capacities. Moreover, as laptops join the realm of personal effects
for many road warriors, the weight of the laptops will be an important
consideration. Floppy disk drives have become optional items rather
than essential ones for many laptops today. Unencumbered by floppy
disk drives, the weight of laptops is significantly reduced making
them more portable for users. On the other hand, there are now more
USB ports in computers reflecting the rising usage of USB-enabled
devices. Under these circumstances, the ThumbDrives are poised to
replace floppy disks as an answer to portable data storage needs, in
particular, for transporting data requiring more than 1.44 Megabytes
memory size.?
http://www.trek2000.com.sg/investor12.htm


-----------------------------------------------------
 

?Flash drives were first introduced to the market in 2001 when
Msystems released its 32 MB DiskOnKey.?

The Daily Texan: Jan. 26, 2004
http://www.dailytexanonline.com/news/2004/01/26/Focus/Phasing.Out.Floppies-587821.shtml


-----------------------------------------------------

M-SYSTEMS FLASH DISK PIONEERS LTD. 
FORM 20-F 
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2001 

?Our DiskOnKey product line provides removable and pocketable
thumb-sized data storage which plugs directly into the USB (Universal
Serial Bus) port of PC?s, laptops, and other computer- based consumer
products, allowing the user to store and carry his data with him and
to quickly, easily and reliably transfer data between any computer or
any computerized system which has a USB port.  Our DiskOnKey product
family is targeted at the PC and laptop markets.?

DiskOnKey products were introduced at the end of 2000.

?Our DiskOnKey products, introduced at the end of 2000, are removable,
reliable, lightweight, high-speed and high capacity thumb-sized and
pocketable data storage devices that are based both on our TrueFFS
technology and on our new and patented DiskOnKey technology. The
DiskOnKey plugs directly into the USB (Universal Serial Bus) port of
PC?s, laptops, and other computer-based consumer products, allowing
the user to conveniently store and carry his data with him and to
quickly and reliably transfer data between any computer-based system
which has a USB port.?

?In November 2000, we announced the introduction of our DiskOnKey product.?

(. . .)

?In competing against rival USB-compatible ?keychain storage? products, we believe
that our DiskOnKey products benefit from the fact that we are
considered by many to be the leader and innovator of the
USB-compatible ?keychain storage market,? having first introduced the
concept and product (as illustrated by our having filed a U.S. patent
application back in 1999, which was issued in 2000) In 2001, we
commenced sales of our DiskOnKey products.?

M-SYSTEMS 
http://www.m-systems.com/files/balanceSh/2001_20-F_M-Systems_Final.pdf


-----------------------------------------------------


USB flash drives were first introduced in November 2000
http://www.unisysworld.com/ars/art.php/22

-----------------------------------------------------

Additional information that might interest you:

The first U3-compliant devices are expected to ship by this summer. 
http://www.eeproductcenter.com/memory/brief/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=57701675

Sourcing Report: USB flash drives
http://www.asia.manufacturers.globalsources.com/gsol/I/USB-flash/a/9000000061827.htm


Search criteria:
"USB   flash drive OR drives? adoption OR percent   
USB thumb drive market 
Keychain drives introduced

I hope the information provided is helpful. 


Best regards,   
Bobbie7
jallen62-ga rated this answer:5 out of 5 stars and gave an additional tip of: $10.00
Excellent! Just what I needed. Thanks.

Comments  
Subject: Re: Computing - USB Thumb Drives
From: bobbie7-ga on 18 Apr 2005 09:00 PDT
 
Dear Jallen62,

Thank you for the five star rating and very nice tip!

Sincerely,
Bobbie7

Important Disclaimer: Answers and comments provided on Google Answers are general information, and are not intended to substitute for informed professional medical, psychiatric, psychological, tax, legal, investment, accounting, or other professional advice. Google does not endorse, and expressly disclaims liability for any product, manufacturer, distributor, service or service provider mentioned or any opinion expressed in answers or comments. Please read carefully the Google Answers Terms of Service.

If you feel that you have found inappropriate content, please let us know by emailing us at answers-support@google.com with the question ID listed above. Thank you.
Search Google Answers for
Google Answers  


Google Home - Answers FAQ - Terms of Service - Privacy Policy