What a difference a few years can make! The USB flash drive prices of today are not very recognizable compared to those of yesterday�and that�s a nice thing. Premium USB is prepared to take you on a trip down memory lane (bad pun intended) to see how far we�ve come & where we�re headed.
First however, they must give you a small point of view on storage capacity. A number of the first commercial flash drives were 128MB & 256MB. Less than 100 images can be stored on 128MB while 256MB gives you a small over 150 images or 50 songs. Today�s average 4GB flash drive on the other hand can hold two full length movies or over two thousand images. A 16GB USB drive holds five times the flicks of its four gig counterpart. Alternately, it's the capability to store over 300,000 documents.
Now we�ve come to prices. In 2003, a standard 128MB flash drive cost $60 & a 256MB flash drive cost $100. Skip ahead years to late 2006 when a 4GB USB was priced at about $60. In early 2007, the cost of these drives dropped about $10.
Over a year later in late 2008, $60 could buy you a 16GB flash drive while $70 could even buy you 32GB. At the beginning of 2009, a 16GB drive was priced around $25. This past December, a 32GB USB flash drive was less than $40. Today, a 16GB USB drive is about $20. At Premium USB, a 4GB flash drive will cost only about $10. Additionally, today�s flash drives are not only more affordable, but they also boast more custom designs & more features like encryption or virus protection.
Flash drive prices are not immune to fluctuations, however. There's annual events that occur affecting how much you pay for these storage devices. Chinese companies supply plenty of of the parts for promotional USB drives. As a result, when Chinese New Year comes along in February, production shuts down for two to three weeks, driving up demand & therefore prices.
These USB prices usually settle down between March & April & are at a low around June before holiday production ramps up at the tail finish of the summer. The beginning of the 4th quarter often reflects a number of the lowest prices of the year. Production obstacles including facility power outages or natural disasters can also generate volatile spikes in prices.
However, as NAND flash expertise continues to evolve & improve, the long term outlook is that USB drives will only continue to boast greater capacities & capabilities at more wallet-friendly prices. Your four gig or 16 gig flash drive of tomorrow will continue to be less expensive than your 128MB drive from 8 years ago.
Do you keep in mind how much you paid for your first USB flash drive?
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