Flash memory storage media has become the most popular form of portable storage in the world today notably because of the ease of use and flexibility of USB devices and helped along by both the reliability of USB flash memory and of course the ever increasing amount of data that these devices can now hold, which is a plus point for many users.

This doesn’t explain the huge number of failures noted in recent months, in fact the whole of the data recovery industry seem to be focusing a lot of attention in the USB Memory Stick Recovery sector, but why should good old trustworthy Flash Memory require such devoted attention?

USB memory sticks are dropping in price all the time as with any technology as it ages and gains mass market adoption, and year on year growth in shipment of these devices has a run rate of around 100% meaning by the end of this year unit sales are expected to be in the region of a staggering 300 million.

With such large numbers of devices actually being shipped and purchased by the consumers and increase in the number of failures is in reality inevitable, however the actual level of failure is a cause of concern and is reported to be running far higher than is acceptable.

Given the previous reliability of USB storage media why then is there an increase in the ratio of failures? Investigations tend to have a common theme and a common result. In a majority of reported cases the actual flash memory in the device has not failed at all and is in perfect working order.

Consumer demand for cheaper goods and services invariably leads to driving manufacturing abroad and in this case to the far east where a lot of the premature failed devices seem to originate. The biggest culprits seem to be the generic unbranded memory sticks found cheap on auction sites. Notably though there is also a huge increase in the number of fake devices finding there way to the market as reported by a leading UK data recovery company in this article:

Nand Flash Identity fraud

These fake devices are intended to appeal to the greed emotion that is prevalent in all but a few consumers, but just because it is cheaper does not mean it is better. The manufacturing process may be cheaper in different world economies but the other factor that is immeasurable by the consumer is the quality of the components. Lower standard components are cheaper but just don’t last the distance in a lot of cases.

Often These portable devices will hold a lot of your valuable data that if lost and not backed up could be lost forever. You get what you pay for as the saying goes so is it really worth the increased risk of data loss to save what is in reality a tiny sum compared to the cost of a branded device?

You can find more great advice on data recovery here or for general computing advice visit the Computer repair website.