Mouser Electronics

snipped-for-privacy@aol.com wrote on 6/22/2017 10:55 AM:

Actually nearly all the top tier distributors do that. I get notices when they change the way that install the chip in packages and all manner of similar notices from Digikey, Arrow and Avnet.

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.

In other words, the notice that the part is

Rick & Jeff:

By any standard, I am a onsie-twosie buyer, so this sort of notice is of in terest to me as indicative of a level-of-service. I might buy 200 capacitor s of a common value, or diodes (1-3 year supply, but sure to be used) so as to reach price-points, but other than those few things, I usually purchase in 10-or-less amounts, and then most purchases are task-specific. Put anot her way, what I repair is personal, not-for-money, and not time-critical.

Peter Wieck Melrose Park, PA

Mouser's computer doesn't know that ...

Jeff Liebermann wrote on 6/22/2017 2:19 PM:

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.

Great company. I've ordered regularly from them for 28 years without them making one mistake.

I would think they'd know from his order history. They know he orders such things, but they also know the quantity.

It's a just a variation of what all the companies do. Since they can keep track electronically, it costs virtually nothing to try to lure people into actually buying things.

So Amazon will send me email listing some things I've looked at recently, as if email will make me actually buy them. One other company will note when I put something in my shopping cart, and send me email pointing the item out and "why not fill your order now?". Some companies send a constant stream of email, yet really not offering me anything. I like the ones from companies offering "free shipping, no minimum" from time to time, and every so often there are really good deals, but generally the flow of email is just to keep them in your mind. They wouldn't do it if it required a phone call or paper mail, they do it because it's automated and cost pretty much nothing.

The odd thing is the companies that I've bothered to sign up with is in case the good deals come along, yet the constant badgering of email doesn't help one bit. I'll order when I order, generic email isn't going to help one bit.

Michael

I've had better luck with digikey and EOL warnings. But I order more stuff from DK too. (Newark never.)

George H.