When will the ST microcontrollers (STM32F4/F7/H7 series) be available again?

[MGatt.2]

For some time, microcontrollers ST have not been available on the market. The lead time is of the order of 6-8 months. Suppliers do not guarantee deliveries. When will the situation return to normal?

Thanks.

[waclawek.jan]

Future is hard to tell. While ST ramped up production, they also have already booked all 2021 production a couple of months ago. Some of that production surely goes towards the distributors, but their customers in panic currently buy up every single chip which appears, and there are also quite some speculating buyers who seek to resell the chips at inflated prices.

JW

[Tesla DeLorean]

Availability at retail sources back to some semblance of normal, probably a year​. Although I suspect the market dynamics have changed permanently, and it will be interesting to see how fab capacity is allocated, what new capacity is built and what lines are culled, and if the "build everything for ever" type promises will survive.

[Tesla DeLorean]

I might add that there's going to be some misjudgement​ as to the popularity of certain lines, and there might be a glut in specific parts which might allow for the more dynamic to pivot/spin their designs to use as an alternative to current parts.

B​e open to using different footprints, or provide multiple options as space allows.

[waclawek.jan]

As an analogy, 2 years ago there was a similar shortage of ceramic capacitors (MLCC). It was similarly inflated by panic buyers, speculation buyers, and blown up artificially by the "forecasters".

https://www.avnet.com/wps/portal/abacus/solutions/technologies/passive/capacitors/the-global-mlcc-shortage/

Under Original article, published August 2018:

[...]And the situation is unlikely to improve for the next 12 to 18 months.[...]There is little sign of improvement in the next 18 months to 2 years.

At the top of that article:

The supply of MLCCs suffered an unexpected and major drop in demand during 2019

Yes, I am aware of the differences between silicon and ceramics; but I am also aware of how the human nature impacts all this.

JW

[TDK]

It's also not as if ALL chips are unavailable. You can typically find something in stock, just might not be exactly what you want.

Digikey shows 17 different STM32F4 chips in stock.

But only 2 STM32H7 chips. Ouch.

So it seems things are still getting worse, not better.