Are we facing a component sourcing catastrophe ?

[max_torque]

Increasingly i find "out of stock"  as the status of even pretty basic components at the usual suppliers (Farnell, Mouser, Digikey etc etc) and the lead times being quoted are getting ridiculous.  For example, if you want a certain brand 100nf 0603 X7R cap, you'll have to wait until December (11 months lead time)

I know that electronics makes the world go round, but wow, it's getting silly, and it's happening more and more ime.  I guess it's a case of demand outstripping supply, and under those conditions, the big players get the spoils (ie if Dell or Keysight need a component, they are going to be able to jump the queue in front of us mere mortals.... 


Right now, i'd (practically) kill for a couple of ADuM5211 isolators, but guess what, as far as i can tell, they don't exisit.........

[kony]

Noticed the same, 100nF X7R caps in 0603 are unobtanium on TME and Mouser, including 82n and 120n on TME. Quite of WTF moment for something this widely used to go out of stock.

I digged for explanation and the capacitors supply shortages were covered even half year ago (with up to 50 weeks lead times mentioned), reasoned by too low investments into new production equipment due to market saturation in mobile devices segment.

[chris_leyson]

I hear Murata are pulling out of the 0603 cap market.

[dmills]

AD seem to be having some 'issues', you try getting ADV7511 HDMI transmitters at the moment!
Painful it is when you need to ship a couple of hundred units with that part.

Rumour is they changed the fabs used for a pile of stuff and this did not go as smoothly as expected.

Regards, Dan.

[bd139]

RS is like that here in the U.K.  sometimes I will back order some parts with a two week lead and I get a call from them saying that the lead time is suddenly one year plus. This is on jelly bean parts.

Ended up buying part reels on eBay for a couple of parts for development.

Also I’ve noticed a long lead between parts being announced and being available in any reasonable quantity. I wanted a couple of SiLabs clock generators released a year ago and there are only single digit quantities available.

I have wondered if people are stockpiling some parts to make sure manufacturing back orders can be fulfilled.

[hans]

Maybe a benefit for using "multicomp" from Farnell after all?

Well, of course, you won't spec a multicomp part into a BOM as there is no 2nd source supplier. Additionally they are most often just the most jellybean parts you can think of with no differentiating specs in their datasheets, so you may as well put "100nF 0603 cap" in your BOM.

[bd139]

Multicomp is an option. Most of it is second tier brands that they relabel anyway, for example most of the resistors are sourced from Royal Ohm.

[chris_leyson]

I think I might have to buy Chinese manufactured parts from Hong Kong suppliers, they don't seem to be facing the same shortage issues.

[T3sl4co1l]

I have word from a corporate sourcing department that ceramic cap lead times are rising (>26 weeks).

Tim

[langwadt]

Increasingly i find "out of stock"  as the status of even pretty basic components at the usual suppliers (Farnell, Mouser, Digikey etc etc) and the lead times being quoted are getting ridiculous.  For example, if you want a certain brand 100nf 0603 X7R cap, you'll have to wait until December (11 months lead time)

I know that electronics makes the world go round, but wow, it's getting silly, and it's happening more and more ime.  I guess it's a case of demand outstripping supply, and under those conditions, the big players get the spoils (ie if Dell or Keysight need a component, they are going to be able to jump the queue in front of us mere mortals.... 


Right now, i'd (practically) kill for a couple of ADuM5211 isolators, but guess what, as far as i can tell, they don't exisit.........

if you are feeling lucky, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/192132192868

[BrianHG]

AD seem to be having some 'issues', you try getting ADV7511 HDMI transmitters at the moment!
Painful it is when you need to ship a couple of hundred units with that part.

Rumour is they changed the fabs used for a pile of stuff and this did not go as smoothly as expected.

Regards, Dan.

https://www.digikey.com/product-detail/en/analog-devices-inc/ADV7511KSTZ-P/ADV7511KSTZ-P-ND/2261221?utm_campaign=buynow&utm_medium=aggregator&WT.z_cid=ref_findchips_standard&utm_source=findchips
https://www.verical.com/pd/analog-devices-misc-multimedia-ADV7511KSTZ-248397?utm_campaign=verical_findchips_2018&utm_medium=aggregator&utm_source=findchips&utm_content=inv_listing

[rob77]

probably the reason is that the manufacturers are not making low capacity 0603 caps because they're focusing on the sizes and values with higher demand. honestly who is using those 100nF 0603 caps apart from simpler low volume designs and hobbyists ? higher values in 0603 are not a problem and 0402 100nF caps are not a problem either.

[mikeselectricstuff]

Digikey have a few million 100nf 0603 in stock. Remember that Digikey don't speak nanofarads so you have to search for 0.1uf

[Yansi]

probably the reason is that the manufacturers are not making low capacity 0603 caps because they're focusing on the sizes and values with higher demand. honestly who is using those 100nF 0603 caps apart from simpler low volume designs and hobbyists ? higher values in 0603 are not a problem and 0402 100nF caps are not a problem either.

What kind of stupid assumption that is? You think that 100nF caps are not used in high volume production and that they are only used by hobbyists? 

[IanB]

probably the reason is that the manufacturers are not making low capacity 0603 caps because they're focusing on the sizes and values with higher demand. honestly who is using those 100nF 0603 caps apart from simpler low volume designs and hobbyists ? higher values in 0603 are not a problem and 0402 100nF caps are not a problem either.

What kind of stupid assumption that is? You think that 100nF caps are not used in high volume production and that they are only used by hobbyists? 

When I examine commercial products these days they are using components so small you need a microscope to see them. Many of them are not much bigger than a spec of dust. So I think rob77 is saying that the relatively large 0603 is becoming obsolete in commercial designs.

[Yansi]

Are mobile phones the only commercial thing made then?

[rob77]

probably the reason is that the manufacturers are not making low capacity 0603 caps because they're focusing on the sizes and values with higher demand. honestly who is using those 100nF 0603 caps apart from simpler low volume designs and hobbyists ? higher values in 0603 are not a problem and 0402 100nF caps are not a problem either.

What kind of stupid assumption that is? You think that 100nF caps are not used in high volume production and that they are only used by hobbyists? 

keep your facepalm for your very reaction dude i said 0603 sized 100nF are not used... open any RECENT piece of mass produced electronics and you will see that 0402 and 0201 are the prevalent sizes.

[Yansi]

I do not see any kind of significant lack of 0603 components in mass produced hardware.  I see 0402 as often, as 0603. And I work in a place where we get hands on some pretty recent mass produced hardware across multiple vendors and target areas.

If you'd say that 0805 is lacking use today, I wouldn't say a thing, but I insist upon that your assumption is just bullshit in terms of explanation why there is currently deficit of 100nF caps. This just won't stand.

//EDIT: Fixed typo.

[wraper]

keep your facepalm for your very reaction dude i said 0603 sized 100nF are not used... open any RECENT piece of mass produced electronics and you will see that 0402 and 0201 are the prevalent sizes.

Open anything that is not super tiny and portable, built with cheap PCB. Say TV or monitor PSU with single layer phenolic board where components are glued down and wave soldered. Good luck with 0402 and 0201 on that. EDIT: just peeked inside through the grill into my Denon receiver I bought last year, it's mostly 0603 there.

[T3sl4co1l]

Unless someone here wants to declare that they are an engineer that is working on so-and-so product which is in current millions-scale commercial production,

We can safely ignore all hear-say from everyone else, period.

Mmmmkay?

(Note: this is why I qualified my earlier statement regarding lead times.  I am not currently working on anything so large scale, but the information came from a department which does.  It's second-degree semi-hear-say, if you like.  Take that as what you will.)

Tim

[rob77]

keep your facepalm for your very reaction dude i said 0603 sized 100nF are not used... open any RECENT piece of mass produced electronics and you will see that 0402 and 0201 are the prevalent sizes.

Open anything that is not super tiny and portable, built with cheap PCB. Say TV or monitor PSU with single layer phenolic board where components are glued down and wave soldered. Good luck with 0402 and 0201 on that. EDIT: just peeked inside through the grill into my Denon receiver I bought last year, it's mostly 0603 there.

I do not see any kind of significant lack of 0603 components in mass produced hardware.  I see 0402 as often, as 0603. And I work in a place where we get hands on some pretty recent mass produced hardware across multiple vendors and target areas.

If you'd say that 0805 is lacking use today, I wouldn't say a thing, but I insist upon that your assumption is just bullshit in terms of explanation why there is currently deficit of 100nF caps. This just won't stand.

//EDIT: Fixed typo.

once again and slowly... i said 100nF 0603 are not used... i'm not saying 0603 capacitors are not used anymore.  everyone is saving PCB area so they go smaller whenever possible. in smartphones, tablets and laptops you won't find many 0603 components and if there are some, then they're north of 1 microfarad...  i'm saying the production follows the demand (where the money is) and there is low demand for  low capacity in big footprint... if it was different then there would be no shortage of 0603 100nF caps.

[Yansi]

Again asking: Laptops, tablets and phones is all you think is manufactured today? Repeated bullshit does not become truth if it is repeated.   

If there is shortage in supply, then the production obviously does not track the demand, mr. cpt. obvious.

[wraper]

once again and slowly... i said 100nF 0603 are not used... i'm not saying 0603 capacitors are not used anymore.  everyone is saving PCB area so they go smaller whenever possible. in smartphones, tablets and laptops you won't find many 0603 components and if there are some, then they're north of 1 microfarad...  i'm saying the production follows the demand (where the money is) and there is low demand for  low capacity in big footprint... if it was different then there would be no shortage of 0603 100nF caps.

I gave examples where capacitance is irrelevant. Then look also on voltage ratings. 100n 0402 with 50V rating is already stretching the limits of technology. Such cap will drop 30-50% of it's capacitance when operated at half of it's rated voltage. Not to say there will be barely any capacitance left at full rated voltage.

[mikeselectricstuff]

For example, if you want a certain brand 100nf 0603 X7R cap, you'll have to wait until December (11 months lead time)

Why would you want a certain brand of a jellybean part, unless your stock control system is too inflexible to deal with alternate sources?
 There are literally millions of equivalent parts in stock at Mouser and Digkey.

[rob77]

once again and slowly... i said 100nF 0603 are not used... i'm not saying 0603 capacitors are not used anymore.  everyone is saving PCB area so they go smaller whenever possible. in smartphones, tablets and laptops you won't find many 0603 components and if there are some, then they're north of 1 microfarad...  i'm saying the production follows the demand (where the money is) and there is low demand for  low capacity in big footprint... if it was different then there would be no shortage of 0603 100nF caps.

I gave examples where capacitance is irrelevant. Then look also on voltage ratings. 100n 0402 with 50V rating is already stretching the limits of technology. Such cap will drop 30-50% of it's capacitance when operated at half of it's rated voltage. Not to say there will be barely any capacitance left at full rated voltage.

vast majority of the stuff produced is 12V max nowadays, decoupling with the mentioned 100nF (along with 1 to 10uF) is done on low voltage rails upto 5V max.
capacitance drop is a property of X7R or X5R dielectric, and it's the same for ALL MLCC caps with that dielectric regardless of the size.
all the stuff i repaired recently (phones, tablets, laptops) had 0402 or 0201 decoupling caps and that's stuff at least 2-3 years old.