Strong demand for USB 3.0- and Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals will buoy ASMedia Technology's shipments of USB device controllers in 2013, according to company president Lin Che-wei. Sales of USB 3.0 chips used for peripheral applications are likely to account for half of ASMedia's overall revenues in the year, said Lin.

Lin noted that in 2013, ASMedia will aggressively expand its offerings including those for USB 3.0- and Thunderbolt-compatible flash devices, and also be seeking new customers.

Market observers believe that flash drives and related peripherals will play a key growth driver for ASMedia's shipments of USB 3.0 device controllers during 2013. ASMedia is set to ship about 36 million USB 3.0 device chips in 2012, with shipments for external hard drives making the largest contribution, the observers predicted.

ASMedia's USB 3.0 device chips are currently shipped to vendors including Seagate, Western Digital and Toshiba, and Taiwan-based Transcend Information, the observers said. The fabless IC firm reportedly is partnering with TSMC, which will help it transition from the 0.13-micron process to 85nm.

ASMedia has already delivered samples of USB 3.0 flash drive controllers to potential customers, which include Samsung Electronics, Toshiba and SanDisk, the observers revealed.

ASMedia also designs and develops USB 3.0 host controllers, which had driven its shipment growth prior to the availability of Intel's Ivy Bridge processors with native support for USB 3.0. ASMedia's USB 3.0 host controllers have attracted orders from Asustek Computer, Micro-Star International (MSI), Elitegroup Computer Systems (ECS), Samsung Electronics and ASRock, the observers indicated.

ASMedia reported net profits of NT$206 million (US$7.1 million) on revenues of NT$1.3 billion for the first three quarters of 2012, with gross margin arriving at around 40%. EPS for the nine-month period came to NT$4.03.