Opinions Wanted on Maxim IC Availability

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

Reply to
John Larkin
Loading thread data ...

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

Reply to
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

Reply to
Rusty

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!

Reply to
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.

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

Reply to
Mac

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.

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

Reply to
Rusty

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?

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.

Reply to
Rusty

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

Jeroen

Reply to
Jeroen

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.

--
  Keith
Reply to
keith

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

formatting link
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

Reply to
Andrew DeWeerd

They've always been fast with samples, but sometimes I wonder if they just make enough parts initially to send out samples...

Best regards, Spehro Pefhany

--
"it's the network..."                          "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com             Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Spehro Pefhany

You're saying they don't make the part until they sell enough to do a manufacturing run? I don't recall having any experience with Maxim, but I've read several other complaints on Usenet about Maxim parts availability. It's starting to smell like vaporware.

-----

formatting link

Reply to
Ben Bradley

"Ben Bradley" wrote

TTTT: Neither does anybody else.

Maxim parts go into very high volume products. 500K parts isn't an unusual order. But 500K parts gathering dust is a significant chunk of change for Maxim to bear. Getting mfg. volume == sales volume is big part of the game in any enterprise.

Production runs are scheduled regularly, the size being for the orders to date + some buffer for distribution.

If a user of Maxim (or anybody's) parts can't schedule _production_ requirements 1/4 yr. in advance whose problem is that? Not Maxim's.

They got into hot water a few years ago by not allocating enough product for the distribution chain and firms with 1-2K distributor orders got left high and dry.

The problem can just as easily be laid at the feet of the distributors who didn't anticipate the customers' needs or the customers that didn't keep the distributors informed.

They seem(ed) to bend over backwards recently, I ordered a few samples and they arrived next a.m. by FedEx #1. I am sure they will add the $25 to my next bill, though.

--
Nicholas O. Lindan, Cleveland, Ohio
Consulting Engineer:  Electronics; Informatics; Photonics.
 Click to see the full signature
Reply to
Nicholas O. Lindan

Maxim did sample me 2800 parts once, to replace others that were defective but had been in the field for years.

And yes, you can get good delivery on Maxim parts if you're willing to pay 3x the normal price to scalpers.

John

Reply to
John Larkin

In article , snipped-for-privacy@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat says... >to my next bill, though.

We use a couple of parts that are Maxim specific. Once, when the part was listed as 14 weeks out, I jokingly asked one of the phone reps for 1000 samples. Fortunately we found the part at a stocking distributor, unfortunately it was double the direct price. At least the pricing of the product has enough fudge factor to absorb something like that (as long as it doesn't happen too often).

Jim

Reply to
James Beck

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.