Cheaper USB 3.0 chips for mobo makers thanks to ASMedia

For a while now we've been seeing some motherboard makers incorporate USB 3.0 into select boards via means of an additional NEC controller (no thanks to Intel being slow to adopt until well into next year), but the list of USB 3.0 supporting boards versus how many new boards continue to hit the market is still somewhat lacking.

However, that may well be changing soon with ASMedia (a subsidiary of ASUSTek) said to be offering up USB 3.0 chips for less than $3 to mobo makers; half that of what NEC charges for theirs, making the inclusion much more attractive on a wider range of boards not only in the high-end market segment, but mainstream and possibly entry level areas, too.



ASUS has of course been quick to make the transfer from NEC to ASMedia and all of its orders hereon will stay with them. Meanwhile, MSI, GIGABYTE and ECS are expected to transfer all their orders to ASMedia in the not too distant future.

The source also mentions VIA has already finished its USB 3.0 controller chip and has submitted its solution to motherboard makers. Mass shipments of the VIA USB 3.0 controller are said to commence sometime in the fourth quarter of this year.