Digitimes Research has recently examined several existing data transmission technologies and found that currently seven of them may become competitors of Intel Thunderbolt.

Of the seven technologies, IEEE 1394 and eSATA are unlikely to pose real challenges due to their weakened development processes. Wireless Gigabit Alliance (WiGig), HDMI and DisplayPort have more potential, but the real threats to Thunderbolt are most likely coming from USB 3.0 and Lightning Bolt, Digitimes Research believes.

Developers are currently working on increasing USB 3.0's transmission speed from 5Gbps to 10Gbps and once it is completed, the new specification could greatly impact the Intel technology, which has an advantage from its 10Gbps transmission speed.