MSP430 Roadmap

Hi,

we don't really disclose information such as roadmap in public. You can instead contact TI local sales offices:

http://www.ti.com/general/docs/contact.tsp

I think you should be ok using MSP430F5438A, since TI rarely make parts obsolete. This produce will still stay in TI portfolio for long time, considering if you see that even the 1xx devices are still fully available.

You can also refer to TI obsolescence policy:

http://focus.ti.com/quality/docs/gencontent.tsp?templateId=5909&navigationId=11224&contentId=5020

Well, Freescale's competing parts are guaranteed to have a 10-year lifetime.

It's no secret, it proclaims so on their website.

 

Such a proclamation calms my CEO's fears.

 

Especially since the TI Stellaris M3 NRND announcement.

 

OscFolt_SiliconErr said:

Well, Freescale's competing parts are guaranteed to have a 10-year lifetime. It's no secret, it proclaims so on their website.

It does not universally mean that you can't agree with TI about guarantees. Small batch manufacturers usually do not care about 10-year availability, mass-market manufacturers possibly can sign individual agreement about 15-year whatsoever availability :D

Ilmars said:

mass-market manufacturers possibly can sign individual agreement about 15-year whatsoever availability

Or, you can lifetime-buy the components you need, or work with 3rd-party distribution (such as Arrow, Avnet, etc) to provide a stocking program for you.

And shouldn't the CEO be CEO-ing and not playing the part of strategic components manager? [/tongue-in-cheek comment]

>you can lifetime-buy the components you need, or work with 3rd-party distribution

How would you know how many you need, if the count is based on sales?
And Arrow/Avnet can not dig up IC's that are long gone, even iy you get a refill contract with them it's not like they promise it for 10 years or you get 1million dollars.

With the fast paced world of electronics, if you get 5 years out of your product you should be OK.
And with TI msp430's there are 100's of very similar to your model number, could always go up a step if obsolete.

 

 

Tony Philipsson said:

How would you know how many you need, if the count is based on sales?

It's called market research and analysis.

Tony Philipsson said:

And Arrow/Avnet can not dig up IC's that are long gone

No. I never said that.

Tony Philipsson said:

even iy you get a refill contract with them it's not like they promise it for 10 years or you get 1million dollars.

I never said that either. But if you have enough volume, 3rd-party distribution suppliers will provide a stocking program (they buy your lifetime amount up front and keep the inventory just for you) as a value-added service (with some cost, mind you).

Tony Philipsson said:

With the fast paced world of electronics, if you get 5 years out of your product you should be OK.

You must make consumer-grade throw-away products. :-)

Tony Philipsson said:

And with TI msp430's there are 100's of very similar to your model number, could always go up a step if obsolete.

That is always an option too. You just assume different levels and types of risks than the other options.

OscFolt_SiliconErr said:

Especially since the TI Stellaris M3 NRND announcement.

NRND doesn't mean the part will be declared obsolete soon. It rather means that there are newer/better/cheaper parts available which offer more bang for the buck but aren't direct replacements. So you should consider them for new designs.

Mind that 'old design' doesn't necessarily mean 'new batch of already produced devices'. It also includes re-using parts of existing layouts or existing code libraries which wouldn't be compatible with the newer devices.
On "new designs", you start mostly from scratch and the NRND tag is a hint to consider a different, newer device instead.

In case of the Stellaris M3, you shouldn't start developing a new product or even product line from scratch with it, since there are better options available. if you are familiar with it and already have done several projects, have code and schematics that you can re-use, the NRND tag shouldn't hinder you doing so.