ST notifies termination of the following product: LIS3MDLTR

[tcseh]

We embed LIS3MDLTR on our board that we produce, because this has high sensitivity: 6842 LSB/gauss. This corresponds to 0.146 mgauss/LSB, if I convert correctly. The other products has significanltly lower sensitivity: 1.5 mgauss/LSB. What are you proposing to replace the LIS3MDLTR once it is discontinued?

https://www.mouser.com/PCN/STMicroelectronics_15054_1.pdf

Regards

[Tesla DeLorean]

You could always inventory a shed-load for your own use, there look to be plenty in the channel today.

@Peter BENSCH 

[Peter BENSCH · Accepted solution]

Apart from the possibility of obtaining remaining quantities of the LIS3MDL from distributors, the magnetometer IIS2MDC and LIS2MDL are still available, but they do not achieve the fine resolution and therefore the sensitivity of the LIS3MDL. In this respect, STMicroelectronics is unfortunately unable to offer a fully-fledged or better successor.

Regards
/Peter

[Oleksii]

Have you found an alternative with similar parameters?

[Oleksii]

Are there any similar ST sensors on contacts with LIS3M.
It was somehow *** to make the LIS2M sensor different in contacts from the LIS3M, if it was expected that it would replace it.
And in general, it is not clear why to refuse an element that is in demand by clients.
Or the company orders them from third-party companies.

[Peter BENSCH]

The LIS2MDL is not an official replacement for the LIS3MDL, but merely an alternative proposal.

Components are discontinued when they can either no longer be produced to cover costs or are no longer in sufficient demand. It is often ignored that the production of sensors is extremely costly, which is why this only makes sense for very large quantities. How many millions of units did you want to order, for example?

[Oleksii]

This explains why many companies refuse to produce 9DOF sensors; as I understand it, STM doesn't have them at all.

It's strange that for such a company, manufacturing sensors is a problem, or are you ordering them from third-party manufacturers? The pinout is different, which prevents one sensor from being replaced with another, unlike, for example, TDK.

How many millions of units did you want to order, for example?

You might be trying to catch me with this question; you may not know that in the new realities, they will be in demand in the coming years, in millions of units.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Not sure if it's a trick question, but it's driven often by how many of hundreds of millions of devices people like Apple and Samsung want to put in their phones and tablets. And when they move to a different device, the production follows that, and not people buying fractional quantities at the edges.

>>The pinout is different, which prevents one sensor from being replaced with another, unlike, for example, TDK.

Yeah, so either you multi-foot print, use an interposer/mezzanine or you spin the board

As distributors no longer seem to be in the holding inventory business, you likely need to hold your own stocks of things to ensure consistency/availability, or enter very large "no cancel, no refund" type contracts to match your commitment level to that of the manufacturer.

[Oleksii]

As distributors no longer seem to be in the holding inventory business, you likely need to hold your own stocks of things to ensure consistency/availability, or enter very large "no cancel, no refund" type contracts to match your commitment level to that of the manufacturer.

Not sure if it's a trick question, but it's driven often by how many of hundreds of millions of devices people like Apple and Samsung want to put in their phones and tablets. And when they move to a different device, the production follows that, and not people buying fractional quantities at the edges.

I'm not talking about phones; I'm referring to a completely different field, and there are changes happening there—demand for such sensors is growing.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Like I said, looked to be plenty in the channel now, but that could evaporate very quickly, especially if others like it, and hedge their own inventory of a part that's not actively manufactured.

>>I'm not talking about phones; I'm referring to a completely different field, and there are changes happening there—demand for such sensors is growing.

Indeed, but it's the 200M/annum orders that sustain the line, and get the per-unit prices to a level others feel is reasonable.

Peter's point is that unless you put a very big check under the production planners noses, they are planning on doing something else with the line.

If you think there's a large untapped business there you should be talking with your ST reps.