2008 will mark the first year in which shipments of high-speed USB devices surpass sales of low-speed and full-speed USB-enabled devices, experts predict.

Recent research by In-Stat found that more than 2.6 billion USB-enabled devices shipped in 2007. Annual shipment growth through 2012 is expected to be 8.3 per cent.

However, In-Stat reports that the most significant development over the past year in the USB market has been the announcement of SuperSpeed USB, the third major revision of the wired USB specification.

SuperSpeed USB is anticipated to deliver actual throughput of 3Gbps, a rate significantly higher than that of high-speed USB.

"SuperSpeed USB is expected to begin shipping as discrete silicon in 2009, and broad deployment of SuperSpeed USB-enabled products is expected in 2010," said In-Stat analyst Brian O'Rourke.

"It will be targeted initially at the PC market and in devices requiring high rates and volumes of data transfer, such as external storage, consumer electronics and communications devices with increasing amounts of storage."