USB 3.0 will turn to the mainstream transfer interface in 2011 and gradually replace USB 2.0, as long as the chipset prices go down and both AMD and Intel support it, according to DRAMeXchange.
From technology side, USB3.0 can achieve two-way transmission through 2 pairs SDP, providing as much as 900 milliampere (mA), equipping with intelligent power management. The theoretical raw bandwidth gap between USB 3.0 and USB 2.0 will be around 10 times while transfer speed will be faster by 5 times. That is, USB 3.0 is the perfect solution for those potential demands for HD multi-media and large file transferring since it can reduce the transferring time significantly. DRAMeXchange expects USB3.0 application will trigger the strong shipment growth momentum in 2011.
From the "Host" side, current mainstream USB 3.0 host controller vendor is still Renesas (former known as NEC). High-end motherboard or desktop products are still the main target in 2010 along with below 10% USB 3.0 penetration rate for notebook. However, DRAMeXchange believes that USB 3.0 penetration will be significantly raised if USB 3.0 penetration in notebook can be pulled up since notebook shipment has accounted around 60% of total PC shipment. According to DRAMeXchange, 2011 new models will be equipped with USB 3.0 with the aggressive attitude from Taiwanese vendors and price cut from Renesas. At the meantime, Intel announced to put USB 3.0 in the new platform reference design in IDF. DRAMeXchange expects USB 3.0 penetration in system products will be more mature and penetration will be raised up given the supportive help from CPU vendors.
From the application side in UFD, the USB 3.0 UFD capacity is expected to be pulled up to 8GB from 4GB in 2011 while transfer speed will be around double or triple of USB 2.0 UFD. With better cost/performance and higher capacity (500GB will become the mainstream spec in 2011), portable HDD are aimed by consumers that since demand for large-size files and high-definition multimedia will be triggered. DRAMeXchange expects the replacement effect is positive toward NAND Flash consumption and USB 3.0 will be the spotlight in UFD and portable HDD industry.