Opinions Wanted on Maxim IC Availability

[Rusty]

I'm intending to use a MAX1645B switched mode battery charger IC in a
product and would appreciate comments on how reliable, or otherwise,
Maxim are for IC availability.

I tried to order six of these devices on their web site for prototype
boards and it said a price was not available for this part and I had
to submit a quote. This should have been responded to within one
business day, according to the web site. One week on and no response.
Anyway, they want $50 shiipping and handling to the UK, which I
consider out of order as Linear Technology on charge $24 to the UK. So
I called Maxim in the UK and their delivery charge is £6.50 ($12.44).
They quoted 2 weeks for this and another part I was ordering, though
there are special conditions attached to ordeing the MAX1645B "This
part is non-cancellable and non-reschedulable" and "Orders must have
an ASAP requested shipment date." So they make to order, and on asking
I was told worst case is 17 weeks, but I was quoted 2 weeks for the
six pieces, indicating they do have some stock. I also asked for the
100 off price and would have been able to order the 100 off with 2
week lead time.

I was told by Maxim not to worry as lead times are generally shorter
than the 17 weeks, however I can't help but worry. What if after the
prototypes are tested and found to be satisfactory that a couple of
months down the line when trying to order the first quantity for
production that they suddenly quote 17 weeks?

Linear Technology do a part with similar functionality, the LTC4100,
though I chose the Maxim part as it is quoted down to 2.8V and I need
to run it from 3V. The Linear Technology part is quoted down to 3V, so
no margin for supply tolerance. I would have to use a separate 3.3V
supply for the LT part.

I'd be interested to hear of others experiences in a similar situation
and opinions on whether Maxim can be trusted to generally have the
MAX1645B available in less than 17 weeks given the special ordeing
criteria.

Thanks

 

[Rusty]

Anyway, they want $50 shiipping and handling to the UK, which I
consider out of order as Linear Technology on charge $24 to the UK. So

Further to this, it's worth mentioning that Linear Technology seem
more speedy. I ordered 2 off LTC4150 from the US at 16:00 on the
Thursday and received them here in the UK at 11:10 on the following
Monday. Maxim quoted me 2 weeks even for the MAX5035DASA, which they
say they have stock of anyway!

 

[Mac]

I'm intending to use a MAX1645B switched mode battery charger IC in a
product and would appreciate comments on how reliable, or otherwise,
Maxim are for IC availability.

I tried to order six of these devices on their web site for prototype
boards and it said a price was not available for this part and I had
to submit a quote. This should have been responded to within one
business day, according to the web site. One week on and no response.
Anyway, they want $50 shiipping and handling to the UK, which I
consider out of order as Linear Technology on charge $24 to the UK. So
I called Maxim in the UK and their delivery charge is £6.50 ($12.44).
They quoted 2 weeks for this and another part I was ordering, though
there are special conditions attached to ordeing the MAX1645B "This
part is non-cancellable and non-reschedulable" and "Orders must have
an ASAP requested shipment date." So they make to order, and on asking
I was told worst case is 17 weeks, but I was quoted 2 weeks for the
six pieces, indicating they do have some stock. I also asked for the
100 off price and would have been able to order the 100 off with 2
week lead time.

I was told by Maxim not to worry as lead times are generally shorter
than the 17 weeks, however I can't help but worry. What if after the
prototypes are tested and found to be satisfactory that a couple of
months down the line when trying to order the first quantity for
production that they suddenly quote 17 weeks?

Linear Technology do a part with similar functionality, the LTC4100,
though I chose the Maxim part as it is quoted down to 2.8V and I need
to run it from 3V. The Linear Technology part is quoted down to 3V, so
no margin for supply tolerance. I would have to use a separate 3.3V
supply for the LT part.

I'd be interested to hear of others experiences in a similar situation
and opinions on whether Maxim can be trusted to generally have the
MAX1645B available in less than 17 weeks given the special ordeing
criteria.

Thanks

I have nothing concrete for you, but I have noticed that Maxim seems to
have tons of parts which are difficult to get in small volumes. For
example, if you go to digikey, most of the MAX parts are non-stock. I am
half-way convinced that Maxim doesn't make some of these parts until they
are already sold.

Since I deal mostly in small volumes, I pretend the non-stock parts
don't exist. (Well, if a part looks good, I will check with other
distributors before I give up.)

In your case, maybe you should call a Linear Technologies applications
engineer and find out if the part in question can operate at your worst
case voltage. Probably they specifically targeted 3.3 and 5.0 Volt
operation, so that is all they specify. In any event, you have nothing to
lose by asking.

--Mac

 

[Rusty]

I have nothing concrete for you, but I have noticed that Maxim seems to
have tons of parts which are difficult to get in small volumes. For
example, if you go to digikey, most of the MAX parts are non-stock. I am
half-way convinced that Maxim doesn't make some of these parts until they
are already sold.

Which would tie in with the statements in the quote I was emailed.
Still, you'd think they _are_ already sold if Digikey wanted to buy
some for their stock. I dunno.

In your case, maybe you should call a Linear Technologies applications
engineer and find out if the part in question can operate at your worst
case voltage. Probably they specifically targeted 3.3 and 5.0 Volt
operation, so that is all they specify. In any event, you have nothing to
lose by asking.

You could well be right. I'll check with them and see.

 

[John Larkin]

I'm intending to use a MAX1645B switched mode battery charger IC in a
product and would appreciate comments on how reliable, or otherwise,
Maxim are for IC availability.

I tried to order six of these devices on their web site for prototype
boards and it said a price was not available for this part and I had
to submit a quote. This should have been responded to within one
business day, according to the web site. One week on and no response.
Anyway, they want $50 shiipping and handling to the UK, which I
consider out of order as Linear Technology on charge $24 to the UK. So
I called Maxim in the UK and their delivery charge is £6.50 ($12.44).
They quoted 2 weeks for this and another part I was ordering, though
there are special conditions attached to ordeing the MAX1645B "This
part is non-cancellable and non-reschedulable" and "Orders must have
an ASAP requested shipment date." So they make to order, and on asking
I was told worst case is 17 weeks, but I was quoted 2 weeks for the
six pieces, indicating they do have some stock. I also asked for the
100 off price and would have been able to order the 100 off with 2
week lead time.

I was told by Maxim not to worry as lead times are generally shorter
than the 17 weeks, however I can't help but worry. What if after the
prototypes are tested and found to be satisfactory that a couple of
months down the line when trying to order the first quantity for
production that they suddenly quote 17 weeks?

Linear Technology do a part with similar functionality, the LTC4100,
though I chose the Maxim part as it is quoted down to 2.8V and I need
to run it from 3V. The Linear Technology part is quoted down to 3V, so
no margin for supply tolerance. I would have to use a separate 3.3V
supply for the LT part.

I'd be interested to hear of others experiences in a similar situation
and opinions on whether Maxim can be trusted to generally have the
MAX1645B available in less than 17 weeks given the special ordeing
criteria.

Thanks

I have had a number of problems getting Maxim parts, and one huge
headache when they discontinued a part without notice *after* our
order was long overdue.


"What's the status of that overdue order?"

"You'll never get it."


I think they are designing more parts than they can support in
manufacturing.

I worry that the linear IC manufacturers are introducing so many
specialized sole-source parts at such a rate that they won't be able
to justify making them for long, so many unique parts will be
discontinued.

John

 

[Jeroen]

I have had a number of problems getting Maxim parts, and one huge
headache when they discontinued a part without notice *after* our
order was long overdue.


"What's the status of that overdue order?"

"You'll never get it."


I think they are designing more parts than they can support in
manufacturing.

I worry that the linear IC manufacturers are introducing so many
specialized sole-source parts at such a rate that they won't be able
to justify making them for long, so many unique parts will be
discontinued.

They do have a non-obsolence policy... don't know much it is worth though..

Jeroen

 

[John Larkin]

They do have a non-obsolence policy... don't know much it is worth though..

Jeroen

There was an interview with the President of Maxim in one of the mags
a couple months ago. He did mention a policy of making their parts
pinout-incompatible with the competition so customers would be locked
into their expensive components. That means that when they discontinue
a part, you're in trouble.

John

 

[Rusty]

I have had a number of problems getting Maxim parts, and one huge
headache when they discontinued a part without notice *after* our
order was long overdue.


"What's the status of that overdue order?"

"You'll never get it."

That's disgusting! You'd expect at least a last time buy. Was this
recently? Do you think things could have improved since then, or is
this sort of thing happening on an ongoing basis?

I think they are designing more parts than they can support in
manufacturing.

I worry that the linear IC manufacturers are introducing so many
specialized sole-source parts at such a rate that they won't be able
to justify making them for long, so many unique parts will be
discontinued.

Similar idea to PC components, in a way. They're obsolete after 2 - 3
years and then you have to design around the next new device. Maybe
this is the lead they're following. Which suggests that Linear
Technology and others are likely to go the same way to compete.

 

[keith]

There was an interview with the President of Maxim in one of the mags
a couple months ago. He did mention a policy of making their parts
pinout-incompatible with the competition so customers would be locked
into their expensive components. That means that when they discontinue
a part, you're in trouble.

The last time (perhaps 12 years ago) I *tried* to use a Maxim part our
purchasing people laughed me out of the office for even suggesting such
foolish ideas. Hell, all I needed was a few hundred parts and would have
bought a few thousand. ...at any price.

I tired to get a few simple battery controllers just to play with. The
purchase order came back at something like 100 weeks. I never seriously
looked at Maxim again. I'm sruprised they're still in business.

 

[Andrew DeWeerd]

Maxim got in real trouble with this exact issue several years back. I
stopped designing in ANY of their parts. However, they have been
considerably better lately (OK, I forgave them and went back).

If you are worried about availablity, design out of digikey
(www.digikey.com). I can get just about any part I have ever used by 10AM
tomorrrow morning.

I don't know how feasible this is in the UK, but I still believe it is a
good idea to design with availability a chief factor.

-- Andrew