ASMedia Technology has seen orders for USB 3.0 bridge controller ICs used in hard drives (HDD) pick up significantly in May and June, according to company president Lin Che-wei. Moreover, the firm is schedule to start shipping small volumes of USB 3.0 flash drive controllers in the third quarter to meet the anticipated demand for USB 3.0 peripherals, said Lin.

ASMedia should manage to fulfill its shipment target for 2012 of 100 million controllers, Lin indicated. The firm's shipments topped 70 million units in 2011.

The addition of native USB 3.0 support to Intel's new chipset does challenge suppliers of USB 3.0 host controller ICs, Lin pointed out. However, the arrival of Ivy Bridge will help USB 3.0-compatible peripherals gain popularity in the market, Lin said.

ASMedia's business focus for the second half of 2012 will shift to products for peripherals including flash drives and external HDDs, as well as Thunderbolt-compatible peripherals, Lin disclosed.

Seagate, Western Digital (WD) and Toshiba reportedly are among ASMedia's major clients.

In addition, production of ASMedia's products will migrate to 85nm node technology to significantly lower costs starting the third quarter, according to Lin. Currently the firm uses a 0.13-micron process to produce chips.

Being a subsidiary of Asustek Computer, ASMedia offers USB 3.0 host and device controllers, and PCI Express bridge controllers. Currently trading on Taiwan's emerging stock market, ASMedia plans to file an application for listing on either the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) mainboard or the over-the-counter (OTC) market later this year.