Rumors suggest that Intel is looking for mass deployment of its super fast port, Thunderbolt, in 2012. The company is planning to make
the port available for PCs in the coming year. So far, this port is available on MacBook Pro, iMac, Mac Mini and MacBook Air.
Digitimes has reported that Intel is collaborating with PC makers for spreading the use of Thunderbolt technology. It is likely that by April 2012, several top-notch PC makers would be releasing their products with Thunderbolt port.
If true, then this new practice would mark a major departure from current PC industry market practice, which uses USB standard. The PC industry is currently promoting USB 3.0 standard. But it looks like PC industry is now following Apple's lead and instead of USB 3.0, it is opting for Thunderbolt for faster transfer of data.
There are a few roadblocks. The peripheral products used for Thunderbolt technology have higher costs and thus PC makers have so far avoided adopting the technology. Now, it is expected that prices for these peripherals will fall during next year, leading to widespread use of Thunderbolt.
The report also suggests that Asus and Sony are expected to be the first PC makers to incorporate the technology. Major companies like ASRock and Gigabyte are likely to produce Thunderbolt compliant motherboards by April, 2012, leading the path for Thunderbolt equipped PCs later in the same year.
