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When new, high-end memory card manufacturer ProGrade Digital made its debut last month, one of the most common questions we saw in the comments was “will you make XQD cards?” The answer seemed to be “no,” but it was based on support email screenshots and other unofficial sources.
To clear up any confusion, DPReview reached out to ProGrade Digital directly and asked if the company could confirm or deny these reports, and/or share its plans (or lack thereof) in regards to the XQD format.
ProGrade Digital CEO Wes Brewer sent us the following statement in response (emphasis added):
ProGrade Digital is not planning to manufacture XQD cards at this time. We are however strongly promoting the future standard of CFexpress through our efforts in the Compact Flash Association. The CFexpress Type B form factor of this new standard is the successor to XQD, and allows existing cameras that utilize XQD cards to be upgraded to operate with the new CFexpress Type B cards if the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) chooses to update firmware in those devices. In addition to the option of backward compatibility to XQD cameras, the new CFexpress cards utilize two lanes of PCIe (vs. one lane on XQD) and supports the NVMe (Non Volatile Memory express) protocol, which provides more than twice the interface speed of XQD. Look for ProGrade Digital to make announcements in this area throughout 2018.
There you have it. The future, as far as ProGrade Digital is concerned, is the CFexpress Type B form factor, which is backwards compatible with XQD memory card slots anyway. Given this fact, it makes sense that ProGrade would steer clear of the “licensing arrangements that Sony requires” (H/T Nikon Rumors) to manufacture XQD cards in the meantime.
Articles: Digital Photography Review (dpreview.com)