FireWire faces major challenges and its market share is stagnating.
Those are conclusions of tech research firm In-Stat in a report about IEEE 1394, also called FireWire or i.Link.
“The peak year for 1394 devices is expected to be 2008, and a slow decline will set in beginning in 2009,” it stated.
1394 is a high-speed serial bus specification used in PCs, PC peripherals and consumer electronics.
“1394 suffers from being the second-choice technology in many product segments,” stated the company’s Brian O’Rourke. “For example, 1394’s historic one-third penetration of the PC market is now dwarfed by high-speed USB’s 100% penetration. This has helped high-speed USB become the interface of choice for PC peripherals.”
The company said 1394-enabled device shipments will grow by only 0.2% annually through 2011. “1394 had created an ecosystem, with digital camcorders at the center, but there has been slippage in this ecosystem recently. From 2005 to 2006, 1394 penetration of digital camcorders fell from 85% to 77%.”
The company has published a report about the worldwide market for the 1394 interface.
