14 DAY TRIAL // So far, the only way a hardware maker could implement the USB 3.0 connectivity in a new motherboard was by purchasing a special controller from NEC. It could be said that NEC holds a monopoly in this area, which is, in part, the reason why the standard's price has not gone down very much since the first products came out. This, however, doesn't seem to have discouraged motherboard makers, which has already bought three million such controllers. Now, seeing that the new technology is picking up speed rather quickly, Intel is reportedly planning on entering the fray as well.
Intel was initially going to put off getting into USB 3.0 until 2011, when it would have likely released a new series of chipsets with integrated support for the standard. Now, however, Digitimes reports that the Santa Clara chip giant may have reconsidered that and is building its own USB 3.0 controller, which it will launch sometime this year.
The device will add to the technologies from ASMedia and VIA, which will finally lead to some competition. As such, with NEC's dominance being threatened, the prices of USB 3.0 might begin to drop.
SuperSpeed USB 3.0 has seen such a success, against most odds, because it is genuinely superior, by a long shot, to USB 2.0. Its tenfold increase in performance drastically raises the appeal of high-capacity external storage devices such as flash drives, SSDs and HDDs of hundreds of gigabytes.
On USB 2.0, transferring large files to and from the drive was tedious, a drawback that limited the popularity of such products. The 5Gbps data limit of USB 3.0 has already begun to change this state of affairs.
Lower prices of USB 3.0 devices and platforms will lead to the more rapid adoption of the new interface on motherboards, PCI Express interface cards and laptops.