Annual Growth of 15 Percent or More Expected in Consumer, Computer, Peripheral, Industrial Products and Systems; New S1600 Silicon Delivering 1.6 Gbps Ready in Q2
SHENZHEN, China -- Apr. 9, 2008 The 1394 Trade Association today announced that more than one billion FireWire ports have now shipped since the introduction of the first 1394-equipped products in 1995. The billion ports provide more than 600 million consumer and computer products worldwide with the most versatile high-speed connections available from any interface standard.
Leading providers of 1394/FireWire silicon include Texas Instruments, LSI, and Oxford Semiconductor, with new companies such as Symwave, Inc. now joining the market with advanced 1394 connectivity ICs. Among the leading 1394-enabled products worldwide are more than 100 million notebook computers and 25 million set-top boxes.
The 1394 Trade Association, which made the announcement during its second quarter general meeting in Shenzhen, China, estimates that the worldwide total of 1394-equipped devices in several important categories will grow by 15 percent or more in 2008. Categories include PCs, hard drives and other peripherals, digital TVs, and television set top boxes. Growth will reach or exceed similar percentages into 2009 and 2010.
"The billion-port milestone is significant -- each new 1394-equipped device sold now has 1 billion opportunities to connect to another 1394 port," said James Snider, executive director of the 1394 Trade Association. "We continue to see solid growth for 1394 across a wide range of consumer, computer and peripherals markets, worldwide. We also are seeing an exciting new phase of design activity as the standard becomes implemented in automotive networks and as leading silicon manufacturers take advantage of higher bandwidth S1600 and S3200 1394 specifications."
The 1394 Trade Association is a worldwide organization dedicated to the advancement and enhancement of the IEEE 1394 (FireWire) standard. For more information visit http://www.1394ta.org.