Do you really have a second source for an 8051? Every one I've seen is included with other peripherals in a unique package.
It's more the market you're in than the particular product, but yes this varies quite a lot. In my last job, the market was seasonal. If you missed June, it was the next June before you could see any return on the investment. ...really January, when you took the widget to the shows.
In this job, the deadline is even more serious, with serious "fines" for being late.
That's a good, reasonable stand. And equally as wrong. If you insist on second sources, you don't have a business in today's market. You're stuck with no MCUs, FPGAs, and some 20YO logic and analogs. Pretty boring stuff.
You're also talking 20 years in the past. That's not very interesting when designing a new product *today*.
"Some ARM-based device" still doesn't have a second source.
Properly written code can be ported quite quickly. But sure, ASM is risky, unless it's for something like an 8051 or ARM.
Not a big problem. It does cause one to take one's eyes off the future but it's not impossible. Demanding a second source OTO moves you out of a world of interesting parts.
Then it was poorly designed in the first place.
Cobbling? Yes, I've done that. I always felt dirty afterwards and didn't respect my manager the next morning.
Long ago. They're spread throughout the year, now, starting in January. It puts less strain on the manufacturer to be able to spread the new product offerings out.
I don't know about before the end, but soon after the new year. In July we bought a new car and pickup. The car is a MY14 and the truck a MY13. I asked about ordering the car and they said I had maybe a month before the manufacturing window for model year closed.
ElectronDepot website is not affiliated with any of the manufacturers or service providers discussed here.
All logos and trade names are the property of their respective owners.