It’s worth mentioning that the linked article was written over a decade ago. - Even today, 8-bit MCUs can be significantly cheaper than 32-bit MCUs. A lot of m

It’s worth mentioning that the linked article was written over a decade ago. - Even today, 8-bit MCUs can be significantly cheaper than 32-bit MCUs. A lot of microcontrollers are used for very simple tasks that simply don’t need anything more than what an 8-bit MCU can do. Although, these days it looks like 16-bit MCUs are comparable or sometimes cheaper when looking at Mouser and DigiKey? RL78-S1 may or may not count as 16-bit. I’m not familiar with it, and seeing some conflicting info. - Plenty of legacy designs certainly continue to get manufactured, since updating the design and software to support a more advanced/cheaper processor would both require requalification of the product and require engineering time. - If you need the absolute lowest power consumption, a simpler, smaller, slower core can be helpful. - Existing expertise/familiarity