Trade Association Sees Strong Growth for 1394-Equipped Products in the Year Ahead

The Trade Association is predicting a strong year of expansion for FireWire across a wide range of markets in 2010, as the electronics industry returns to solid growth and designers adopt faster FireWire speeds.

The TA foresees continued expansion into higher speed, higher bandwidth computing, storage and consumer electronics products. There also will be steady growth of new 1394-enabled products in the industrial cameras and instrumentation segments, where FireWire has established itself as the interface of choice.   The 1394 standard also is becoming the preferred interface for automotive networking applications.

Leading suppliers of 1394 physical layer and link layer ICs also are optimistic. Texas Instruments issued the following statement about 1394 prospects: “Texas Instruments continues to see strong demand for its 1394 products across multiple end equipments. The consumer video market continues to drive demand for content protection-enabled 1394a devices in the high-definition set-top box (STB) and digital TV segments, while the PC and external storage market continue the transition from 1394a to 1394b. With the release to market of low-cost equalizers that can drive 1394b signals up to 100 meters on CAT5, coaxial and plastic optical fiber (POF) cables, TI also sees an increased interest in applications like surveillance, machine vision, industrial and medical.”

“We believe that 1394 has a bright year ahead, as PC growth expands again, automotive applications emerge, and storage products continue their advance to higher speeds and capacities,” said Max Bassler, 1394 Trade Association Chairman.  “Already in 2010, computer technology leaders like Hewlett Packard, Dell and Acer have introduced an impressive set of new products with FireWire, and the trend continues. So do our efforts to make 1394 the interface of choice in the industrial camera, instrumentation, and automotive networking sectors.  All are adopting and deploying 1394 now. We are committed to continued development of standards, programs, and policies that enable the maximum use of FireWire across these markets and industry sectors.”