Intel: USB 3.0 in 2012 with ‘Thunderbolt’
Intel went on the record today saying that its silicon will support USB 3.0 in 2012 and urged developers to target both USB and its new “Thunderbolt” technology. — “Intel is going to support USB 3.0 in the 2012 client platform.
Context & Ripple Effects
The USB 3.0 effort has been running since 2007, when the industry group behind the Superspeed USB interconnect laid out the spec and early coverage pointed to an optical-capable USB 3.0 arriving as soon as 2008. What has been missing since then is Intel itself: until this week, the standard lived on paper and in discrete controllers rather than in the silicon that ships inside most PCs.
Intel has now put a date on that gap, confirming USB 3.0 support in its 2012 client platform and — notably — telling developers to target Thunderbolt, its new PCI Express-derived interconnect, alongside USB rather than instead of it. The dual-track message matters because it positions Thunderbolt as a premium complement for bandwidth-hungry devices while USB stays the universal baseline.
First-order effects
- PC makers designing 2012-era systems get native USB 3.0 in Intel's chipset roadmap, removing the need for third-party host controllers to reach SuperSpeed throughput.
- Peripheral and storage developers now have explicit guidance from Intel to build against two interfaces at once — USB for reach, Thunderbolt for high-bandwidth docks, displays, and external drives.
Second-order effects
- Vendors selling discrete USB 3.0 controller chips lose their window: once Intel integrates support into the client platform, their add-in value collapses to legacy sockets.
- External storage and display makers face a forked roadmap — Thunderbolt offers higher bandwidth but requires adopting an Intel-controlled interconnect, concentrating licensing and certification power over premium peripherals at Intel.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, Intel's chipset cadence becomes the de facto gatekeeper for PC I/O: standards advance only when they land in Intel's silicon, and any rival interconnect must either coexist inside that platform or fight it.
- A two-tier peripheral market takes shape — commodity USB devices competing on price against a smaller premium tier built around Intel-governed interconnects, echoing how the 2007 Superspeed group's open-spec ambitions now sit alongside a proprietary lane.
The trend: High-speed PC input/output is consolidating around Intel's chipset roadmap, with USB serving as the universal floor and Intel's own interconnect layered on top as the premium option.