Thunderbolt is Intel AFAIK. (Correction: apparently Intel made some claims but Apple owns it.)
My guess is Intel probably would have backed USB over Firewire regardless since it had a stake in USB.
The irony is, USB would probably have failed without Apple.
The fact is that Intel has repeatedly chosen its own technology to promote, and until recently it had the market power to force everyone else to follow suit.
> (Correction: apparently Intel made some claims but Apple owns it.)
This doesn't seem to be correct. While I can't find anything with a simple search, the thunderbolt technology website is copyrighted by Intel, and Wikipedia directly attributes the development to Intel.
Iirc apple was mostly a first adapter to thunderbolt.
My guess is Intel probably would have backed USB over Firewire regardless since it had a stake in USB.
The irony is, USB would probably have failed without Apple.
The fact is that Intel has repeatedly chosen its own technology to promote, and until recently it had the market power to force everyone else to follow suit.