1984 – EEPROM developed

In 1984, Fujio Masouka at Toshiba developed the original EEPROM memory chip – Electrically Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory. The name FLASH memory was suggested because the erasing process is very similar to the flash of a camera flash. In later years, Intel overtook Toshiba in the development of NAND FLASH memory chips.

90s – development of the USB standard
The USB standard began to develop in the 90s of the twentieth century, It was developed by Ajay Bhatt for the American Intel. USB drives and ports were invented to reduce the number of cables needed to connect devices to a computer.

1999 – Pendrive
In 1999, the USB standard appeared. It started as USB 1.0 and 1.1. At that time, the first USB stick, the so-called Pendrive, was also invented. The first had a capacity of 8MB, which seems like a drop in the ocean compared to today’s USB sticks.

However, USB sticks only came to life when the USB 2.0 standard was invented. The transfer speed increased significantly, to 480 Mb per second. The popularity of USB sticks grew, as did their capacity, as computer manufacturers began to position USB ports on the front of desktop computers. Over time, USB sticks began to displace other portable media – floppy disks and CDs.

2002 – USB on game consoles
In 2002, a new milestone was reached – Sony released its Play Station 2 game console with two USB ports, which were used for its controllers. In 2005, Microsoft followed suit, releasing the X-BOX 360 with USB ports on the back. Microsoft was also the first to call this new type of media “USB Flash Drive”.

2006 – First serial car with USB port

A new milestone for USB sticks occurred in 2006. The Korean KIA was the first car manufacturer to equip its steel horses with a USB port. This was followed by other car manufacturers who liked the idea. The USB port is now a fixture on car dashboards.

2007 – First factory only for Nand FLASH
The year 2007 was a turning point for Flash memory chips – Sandisk set up the first factory in Shanghai that produced only Nand Flash memory circuits.

2008 – USB 3.0

In 2008, the long-awaited new standard appeared – USB 3.0. It is often recognized by the blue plastic part of the connector. The standard supports transfer speeds of up to 5Gb/s, so transfers are much faster. Due to the additional pins, it also allows simultaneous reading and writing.

2009 – explosion of capacity
This year, the first USB sticks with a memory capacity of 256 Gb appear. That is enough for 54 DVDs of video content or more than 51,000 high-quality photos.

2013 – doubling
Capacities and capabilities are growing, and this with almost identical chip sizes. At the beginning of 2013, the first 512 Gb USB sticks appear. But this milestone is already forgotten by the end of this year, as the first 1 Tb memory chips are available.

2014 – USB C
A new USB C connector is specified. It represents a significant turning point, as this connector (unlike previous USB connectors) does not matter which way you turn it. It also has more pins, which enable additional functions. 2014 was also a turning point in something else – the website usb.si was born.

2015 – USB sticks for mobile devices

The first OTG – On The Go USB sticks come onto the market, which in addition to the classic connector also have a small connector for mobile devices – micro USB or today also USB C. This allows mobile devices to be connected to USB sticks. Some manufacturers start producing USB sticks according to the 3.1 standard.

2017 – capacities go sky high
The first USB sticks with a capacity of 2 TB appear. The sticks and chips are practically the same dimensions as older models, but with double the capacity.

2019 – PRO-USB.EU
PRO-USB.EU has more than 30 different models of USB sticks in stock, in different shapes and colors, and in an extremely wide range of capacities