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Report Based on China's USB Flash Drives Market: The Largest Maker of USB Flash Drives Globally

DUBLIN, Ireland-(Business Wire)-October 6, 2008 - Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/a9205a/china_sourcing_rep) has announced the addition of the "China Sourcing Report: USB Flash Drives" report to their offering.

Based on in-factory tours

China is the world's largest maker of USB flash drives, responsible for about 75 percent of global supply.

This year, an active base of over 100 manufacturers are expected to deliver over 173 million units, driven by rising global demand for desktop and laptop computers. Makers are expanding their capacity, while ensuring quality components for certified export-ready products.

Be there to catch the market boom by contacting the right USB flash drive supplier in China. Your very own copy of this Global Sources report will help you:

Determine which makers are integrating add-on functions such as storage, file management, USB ZIP, USB HDD boot-up, data recovery, virus scan, password protection and data encryption
Find out which vendors source the most important component of the USB flash drive, the flash memory, from recognized industry leaders — Samsung and Toshiba
Discover which suppliers offer USB flash drives in novelty designs such as credit card, screwdriver and bottle opener, or practical designs such as slide-out, rotating shells and foldable casing

With profiles of 40 suppliers, 162 products and a comprehensive overview of China's USB flash drives market, this report will answer all these questions...and MORE.

What you'll get

In-depth profile tables for 40 leading China-based manufacturers — detailing their background, manufacturing and export strengths, R&D plans and more. Based on factory visits and personal interviews with senior managers, this information is not available anywhere else
A gallery of the 162 most popular export models complete with full-color photographs and top-line specifications
The results of Global Sources' latest supplier survey, forecasting production, export and R&D trends for the next 12 months
Lists of the top 10 exporters for each type of product covered in this report: 1GB & below, 2GB, 4GB and 8GB & above USB flash drives
A price guide that lists specific features and functions buyers can expect per price range
An easy-to-use table of verified contact details — including contact person, phone numbers, email addresses and website URLs — to help you reach the makers featured in this report

USB flash drive is probably one of the few electronics product lines that will demonstrate impressive growth despite strong headwinds in the global economy. Although the industry consolidated in the past two years, many new suppliers continue to flock to the product line due to its low barrier to entry and an anticipated growth in demand.

Worldwide shipments of USB flash drives are expected to reach 173 million units in 2008, a 24 percent rise over 2007. This will largely be driven by an increase in ownership of desktop and laptop computers, since USB flash drives are predominantly purchased by PC users. As a result, China's current supplier base of more than 100 makers is projected to expand again, after intense competition forced almost 50 percent of the companies to leave the line.

Based on estimates by interviewed suppliers, China produced 105 million USB flash drives in 2007, which accounted for about 75 percent of global supply. Nearly half of the output was exported, mainly to North America and the EU.

The following are some of the key trends we see in China's USB flash drive industry:

Suppliers are divided about increasing or decreasing their export quotes in the coming months. While many suppliers are concerned about the mounting labor cost and reduced profitability as a result of the yuan's rising valuation, a significant number of companies are equally worried about the impact of price increases on their competitive edge
With many suppliers planning capacity expansion in the next few months, China's output is expected to increase by at least 10 percent and exports by about 15 percent
EU will be the leading export market as some suppliers are avoiding the US market due to worries about currency exchange losses
Although the USB 3.0 specification was unveiled in 2007, USB flash drives based on USB 2.0 will continue to dominate the product line for the next three to five years

This report covers USB flash drives with capacity ranging from less than 1GB to more than 8GB. These products are usually based on NAND flash memory and feature USB 2.0 interface. They generally support multiple operating systems and are integrated with add-on functions such as virus scan, dual-boot mode, data encryption and password protection.

Key Topics Covered: