3 ms·

Chips are small, don't age fast. Make sense as an exception to the rule.

bluGill 5y ago
Chips also go out of production suddenly (with only a couple years warning - which isn't anywhere near enough time to replace them all). thus any major manufacture has stockpiles of chips that are no longer in production that need to last until production of the widget switches to new chips and have enough left over as spare parts for existing widgets.
- davidrm 5y ago
  > Chips also go out of production suddenly (with only a couple years warning...) No they don't, automotive semiconductors suppliers have an "obligation" to manufacture the component for at least 15 years, which makes managing the production output planning, spare parts etc. much easier. It's not like walking into your supermarket and finding out that your favorite brand of chocolate is no longer available. There are minor exceptions, and sudden changes in the demand might affect the immediate availability, but at the very least the part is almost guaranteed to be produced for 15 years with defined notice policies. Microcontrollers don't have a pin-compatible drop in replacement when they get discounted, but many different ICs do, like power supplies, transistors etc., so discounting them is not a big deal. e.g.: https://www.nxp.com/products/product-information/nxp-product-programs/product-longevity:PRDCT_LONGEVITY_HM https://www.nxp.com/products/product-information/nxp-product... > Participating products are available for a minimum of 10 years from product launch (15 years from product launch for many products developed for the automotive, telecom and medical segments), and are supported by standard end-of-life notification policies.
  - bluGill 5y ago
    Some of them get that, and car manufactures have learned the hard way how important that is and so demanding it more. However there are still a lot of parts where they can't get the 15 year supply in anything that meets the other requirements.

Chips also go out of production suddenly (with only a couple years warning - which isn't anywhere near enough time to replace them all). thus any major manufacture has stockpiles of chips that are no longer in production that need to last until production of the widget switches to new chips and have enough left over as spare parts for existing widgets.

davidrm 5y ago
> Chips also go out of production suddenly (with only a couple years warning...) No they don't, automotive semiconductors suppliers have an "obligation" to manufacture the component for at least 15 years, which makes managing the production output planning, spare parts etc. much easier. It's not like walking into your supermarket and finding out that your favorite brand of chocolate is no longer available. There are minor exceptions, and sudden changes in the demand might affect the immediate availability, but at the very least the part is almost guaranteed to be produced for 15 years with defined notice policies. Microcontrollers don't have a pin-compatible drop in replacement when they get discounted, but many different ICs do, like power supplies, transistors etc., so discounting them is not a big deal. e.g.: https://www.nxp.com/products/product-information/nxp-product-programs/product-longevity:PRDCT_LONGEVITY_HM https://www.nxp.com/products/product-information/nxp-product... > Participating products are available for a minimum of 10 years from product launch (15 years from product launch for many products developed for the automotive, telecom and medical segments), and are supported by standard end-of-life notification policies.
- bluGill 5y ago
  Some of them get that, and car manufactures have learned the hard way how important that is and so demanding it more. However there are still a lot of parts where they can't get the 15 year supply in anything that meets the other requirements.