VARs urged to cash in tablet PC storage shortage

Kingston Technology highlights tablet PC revenue opportunity

Kingston Technology highlights tablet PC revenue opportunity

Memory giant Kingston Technology claims the growing popularity of tablet PCs could open up opportunities for the storage channel next year.

The vendor claims that because the amount of in-built storage contained within tablet PCs is so small, it could lead to an upsurge in demand for external storage and flash devices.

According to a recent forecast by analyst house Gartner, 80 per cent of businesses will be using tablet devices by 2013.

John Tu, president of Kingston Technology, said lack of storage was one of the biggest drawbacks of tablet PCs for end users.

He said: "This will lead to opportunities in 2011, where Flash-based products have huge potential to be used as added, external storage for these gadgets.

"Consumers will be looking closely at what kind of storage offerings can be used that will satisfy their needs, with fast transfer rates and additional security features being top of the list."

Tu also predicts that USB storage will start to play an increasingly important part in the data backup process in 2011, as more USB 3.0-ready devices hit the market.

He explained: "USB 3.0 [boasts] 10 times faster theoretical transfer speeds compared to USB 2.0 [and it] has now become a viable external storage device.

"There will be a flood of motherboards offering USB 3.0 as a standard in 2011, further driving adoption of USB 3.0 drives as the product of choice for mobile storage and large capacity backups."