Although the USB standard is in the process of transitioning from Type A to Type C, it has been found that the ownership rate of USB Type A remains the highest among consumers worldwide and domestically. Looking ahead, the demand for USB Type C, particularly dual-connector products, is expected to continue.

Western Digital (hereinafter WD) released the results of its global 'USB Type-C Research' survey on consumer trends regarding USB flash drives on the 25th.

According to WD's recent survey results, USB flash drives were found to be the most common among major storage solutions worldwide, including external HDDs, external SSDs, internal SSDs, and NAS. Based on all global respondents, the average number of USB flash drives owned was 3, and the intention to purchase one this year was about 75%, indicating that consumers generally own multiple USB flash drives and intend to purchase additional ones within this year.

This survey was conducted online and involved a total of 3,500 respondents aged 18 to 65 from seven countries, including South Korea, the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, China, India, and Indonesia.

Among USB flash drives, USB Type A single-connector drives recorded a 59% ownership rate, surpassing USB Type C (USB Type-C™) and dual-connector USBs to become the most common USB flash drives currently. On the other hand, USB Type C drives recorded the highest future purchase intention (68%), and 66% of respondents indicated a preference for dual-connector USBs over single-connector USBs (34%) for future purchases.

Global respondents who prefer dual-connector USB over single-connector USB cited support for a wide range of content transfer between devices (66%), greater flexibility (64%), ease of use (62%), and compatibility with smartphones (59%) as key preference factors.

It was found that all domestic respondents owned USB flash drives, and on average, they owned about 3 USB flash drives. The purchase intention for USB flash drives this year was 79%, significantly outpacing external SSDs (54%), external HDDs (49%), internal SSDs (47%), and NAS (33%).

In Korea, USB Type A single-connector drives recorded the highest ownership rate (48%), followed by USB Type C single-connector drives (17%), USB Type C dual-connector drives (13%), USB Type A dual-connector drives (13%), and USB Type C and Lightning connector drives (9%). Notably, similar to global trends, USB Type C showed the highest future purchase intention (66%), and 64% of domestic respondents also indicated a preference for dual-connector USBs over single-connector USBs (36%) for future purchases.

In particular, domestic respondents who prefer dual-connector USB over single-connector USB cited providing greater flexibility (54%), supporting a wide range of content transfer between devices (52%), and being usable with smartphones (49%) as their main reasons for preference.

In addition, domestic consumers answered that they use dual connector USBs with smartphones for purposes such as transferring files between devices (54%), saving photos directly to the USB instead of the internal storage after taking them (46%), and backing up important files (45%). The purpose of using a dual connector USB with a PC was also found to be similar, including long-term file storage (48%).

“WD is optimally positioned to meet the growing consumer demand for USB Type C and dual connector drives in the domestic market,” said Shim Young-cheol, General Manager of Western Digital’s Content Solutions Division in Korea. “WD has long recognized USB connector types as a key factor in keeping pace with compatibility with the latest devices and has been working to strengthen its mobile storage solutions for years.”

He also said, “Today, WD’s SanDisk USB portfolio features a wide range of USB Type C as well as dual-connector USB products,” adding, “Through this, consumers will be able to experience the flexibility to easily store, transfer, and access valuable data on various devices equipped with different ports.”