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USB Flash Memory Drives

The main component of the USB sticks, the controller (essentially a micro processor) is manufactured in the Far East by only a handful of factories, owing to the high cost of entry into the microprocessor industry. Due to this supply limitation, prices rise and fall in much the same way as other less readily available products do, and USB memory stick is a product that isn’t likely to be subject to the drastic price reductions that other storage mediums such a CD, DVD and Blu-ray have been exposed to.

Various other factors also present a unique advantage to the resellers of these products, the changing price doesn’t offer opportunities for larger cash rich companies to buy in bulk unless they can shift fully assembled product very quickly (something that simply isn’t possible when making the smaller runs of branded and custom molded USB Flash drives). Memory capacity is always being improved upon, but rather than creating a drop in price of lower capacity memory chips, they simply become obsolete - another factor in keeping the prices in the USB memory market fairly buoyant.

All this effectively levels the playing field for resellers, and allows plenty of opportunity for healthy competition and the development of innovative and creative methods of marketing USB. This is evident in the multitude of designs in the outer casing of the USB pens. The USB housing can be made from most materials; wood, metal and many different plastic and other oil based materials such as PVC, PET, ABS and Silicon. The variation in costs of these outer cases obviously affects the total cost of the drive, and can be used to add value or offer (infrequent) high volume flash drive orders the most cost effective housing solution.

The choice of material, in addition to taste and personal preference, can also be influenced by a few factors most important of which is the run size; different materials are cost effective for different quantities. Lead times may also influence the choice of material as some moulds take longer to make than others.

Finally a word or two on sourcing: any buyer worth his salt wants to buy direct from a factory; but the reality or it is that with a product consisting of parts that are not produced by one factory or even one company for that matter. The best you can hope for is to deal direct with an assembly plant that buys good quality memory chips and PCBs, moulds the cases, assembles everything then tests and ships them.

The down side of that is that this will mean dealing with a factory that is in all probability in mainland China. Communication is difficult and payment up front is the only option. This will often result in a product that is unsatisfactory at best with nothing that can be done about it. The ideal solution is to use a company that has offices based in the country of purchase that represents a factory that has been thoroughly vetted and has all the necessary certification. In addition Chinese speaking UK based staff are usually necessary and ideally a member of staff on the ground in the Far East to check goods prior to shipment.

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