STM8X availability situation

[Sisto Zànier]

Good morning, everyone,

given the dramatic situation on semiconductor availability and sourcing, I would like to know what the future holds for the STM8 family.

Supply times at distributors are discouraging, to say the least, and the official ST website indicates nothing but "0 in stock."

Okay, for new designs I could migrate to the STM32 family, but the problem is related to product already on the market whose production is suspended precisely because of shortages not only of other semiconductor components but also of STM8 micros.

Is there any word on the current situation and any projection for the future?

Thanks for any your response.

Sisto Zanier

[Tesla DeLorean]

Isn't lead time a future indicator?​

Whether ST is going to invest in additional mask sets for the STM8 to broaden sites of manufacture, is a good question, doesn't seem to be a line they are strongly committed too.​

This would be something to discuss with your local sales office or reps.

Might be time to consider design spin​, or pivot into a new architecture or approach.

[Sisto Zànier]

Indeed, at least in this commodity sector, lead time is an indication of the future, and given the prolonged time when there is no availability of the various STM8 codes, especially the "L" family, everything suggests that ST has no intention of restoring the situation prior to Covid-19 and the almost simultaneous global financial crisis.

The cost for a redesign of existing products using STM8L, on other architectures, is not insignificant also because it adds up to a standstill in production.I enclose one example of a request for a sample and the indication of delivery times are a tease.

[Tesla DeLorean]

Arrow/Verical show me 2000+ on-hand of STM8L151F3P6TR

As I understand it, it is a capacity issue, and priority is going to highest margin devices, and biggest customers.

I understand that finding parts and redesigning things are complex costly choices, however when you know the tunnel is 12-18 months, what things can you do which are within your control?

https://www.verical.com/pd/stmicroelectronics-microcontroller-stm8l151f3p6tr-1867025

[Tesla DeLorean]

>>The cost for a redesign of existing products using STM8L, on other architectures, is not insignificant also because it adds up to a standstill in production.

Yes, but you need a strategy to allow you to pivot, decide what things you are building that are most critical to YOUR business, and focus on getting them to a point where you can transition, and free up any inventory of old parts to maintain the life of other things you're less keen to redesign.

Perhaps use dual foot-prints of SOIC and QFN to give a broader list of usable parts. Next time you order PCB, have one where the STM8, and some other STM32 CM0(+) foot print can co-exist. Doesn't have to be ST part either.

I don't know if your boards are large enough to accommodate options, but you do need some plan or strategy moving forward.

[Sisto Zànier]

Ok, thanks for the support and suggestion.

[S.Ma]

Found this, maybe useful? STM32C0...

https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/580455692?utm_id=0

[Cristian Gyorgy]

I remember years ago, when Microchip acquired ATMEL. AVR8 micros were getting harder to find, prices going high and they stopped developing the new (back then) ATxmega family. I was so upset, I immediately started searching for an alternative to the AVR8, and there was the clear choice: STM8; filled up with peripherals, 12-bit ADC with 1Msps, all you needed was on it, and the prices were so low that you could replace simple controllers with STM8 MCUs. Even the programing is better on STM8, due to it's architecture.

Unfortunately, situation has changed again: now STM8s are hard to find and extremely expensive, with production lag and stopped development, while AVR8 is back on track. Microchip invested in AVR8s, they pulled out many new families, with updated features and peripherals, all the packages you want, very good availability and prices.

And yes, I switched back to AVR8 MCUs - quite sad.