Expanding the range of Thunderbolt interface controller is going but slowly. Asmedia Company , for example, a unit of Asustek Computer, is going to promote the products in 2013.
According to associate in the foreseeable future, the penetration of Thunderbolt in the notebook segment and motherboard is unlikely to exceed the current 10%. The high cost of controllers and low demand for this interface are the main causes of unpopularity. The situation is worsened with the general lack of demand for personal computers.
Cost of Thunderbolt controller is now approaching $ 20, while the USB 3.0 controller cost producers $ 0.5-0.8. Thunderbolt interface is the most widely used mainly by Apple. If the price of the controllers will not go down at least to 2014, then talk about the prospects of Thunderbolt popularity is not necessary.
Apart from ASMedia, Marvell is engaged on the release of Thunderbolt controller . True, the production volumes of the products are still very small.