Jeff Liebermann wrote on 6/22/2017 2:19 PM:
On Thu, 22 Jun 2017 07:55:33 -0700 (PDT), "
wrote:

All:

Just got an e-mail from Mouser that some parts I had ordered
in the past were about to be discontinued (as obsolete)
by the manufacturer.

Few suppliers bother with this level of service.

It's fairly common practice among the various distributors. They
expect you to panic at the thought of having to redesign your product
for a different part. You then purchase a huge number of the soon to
be obsolete parts, so that you're not stuck dealing with the greedy
obsolete parts jobbers. In other words, the notice that the part is
about to become discontinued is a very effective sales pitch.

That is a bit of a cynical attitude. Would it be better for them to *not*
tell you in advance so that you end up placing an order only to be told the
parts are discontinued?

Lattice did a rather unusual thing in that they set a last order data some 3
years before the last delivery date, so you could schedule deliveries well
in advance. Arrow bought some 80,000 that I know of. I was still shipping
units but on a very erratic, completely unpredictable schedule so I waited
and monitored the inventory. By the time I needed parts the count had
dropped to 78,000, so clearly they were not flying off the shelf. My orders
ramped up so I called for a quote. I had so much money coming in I
considered buying a significant supply of 5,000. They still would not give
me a decent price in spite of the fact that these parts just were not
selling. Good thing I waited. I found out the products that my designs
were going in were being EOL'd at the end of the year. I would have been
stuck with 5,000 pieces.

Arrow still has 72,000 pieces so unlike last year, I am not the only one
buying them. But they will be a decade selling them at the double and
triple prices they are listed for now.

--

Rick C