STM32 weird availability

[DigitalDeath]

Lately we've been finding that a lot of the low to mid range performance micro controllers we use from the STM32 line are backordered and in most cases their availability is around 8 months or so. Is there something going on? Like COVID related or some other issue? It's like they disappear. One day we find a few thousand in stock and we come back the next day to buy a few thousand and they're gone. Is there some issue with the availability?

Thanks.

John.

[KE5FX]

Short answer is that everybody expected sales to collapse due to COVID.  The opposite happened.  All of the money people used to spend on travel and dining out is getting spent on everything from new cars to TVs, laptops, phones/tablets, and game consoles.

Some say that international political issues have resulted in some reshuffling of demand lately, as well.

TL, DR: Forecasts went one way, demand went the other.

[DigitalDeath]

Interesting thanks for your feedback that's very useful.

John.

[Siwastaja]

As KE5FX said, and it affects many other components as well, not limited to ST.

Additionally, the strike at ST in France didn't help.

[SiliconWizard]

IC shortage is already a problem. Yes, it seems mainly due to the gigantic consumption of mobile devices (along with of course COVID crisis which has a definite impact), which has already diverted a large chunk of the IC production. One of the first industries affected was the car industry, but it's definitely going to affect other industries progressively.

And yes, sales have unfortunately collapsed in a number of markets, but not the mobile devices. This one is only growing.

[SiliconWizard]

Making things worse, if something is on short supply, people will go panic. When they get panic, they stockpile.

Yep.
Just for the chinese side: https://www.scmp.com/tech/gear/article/3105782/huawei-ban-covid-19-pandemic-fears-push-chinas-integrated-circuit-imports
But I'm sure this is the same everywhere. I know a few european companies for instance that are stocking up in much larger quantities than usual...

[thm_w]

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/chat/stmicroelectronics-shortage/
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/manufacture/stm-st-nothing-in-stock/

[Kjelt]

It even now has come so bad that jellybean parts are becoming scarce.
A friend is in the industry that has to redesign multiple products because of component shortage.
After a month of redesign and testing and given the green light, he gets a response that from the eight new introduced component replacements, two again are unobtainable.
Must be frustrating being a HW engineer at the moment.

[SiliconWizard]

Must be frustrating being a HW engineer at the moment.

It's frustrating for a whole lot of people at the moment.

[techman-001]

 https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/china-pushing-price-second-hand-manufacturing-equipment-2021-03/] [url]https://www.electronicsweekly.com/news/business/china-pushing-price-second-hand-manufacturing-equipment-2021-03/[/url]

Barred by the US from buying new equipment, Chinese semiconductor companies see the used machinery market as their best route to maintaining and growing their manufacturing  capacity.

Litho machines  are the most sort after items and their price is reported to have gone up 3x.

Hitachi Capital is quoted as saying that the price of immediately available machines is higher than the price of new machines as the China firms scramble to procure them.

The Nikkei quotes one Japanese used equipment dealer saying: “Machines that were basically worthless several years ago are now selling for 100 million yen.”

 20- to 30-year-old machines are said to be operating in Chinese fabs.

At Sumitomo Mitsui Finance and Leasing a source is quoted  saying: “Machines we bring in are shipped directly to the next plants. They literally disappear instantly.”

[Doctorandus_P]

Whole car factories are being shut down temporarily because they can't get the chips they need.
Go try buy a mid-range video card for your PC. or an AMD processor. or a 42" monitor. All sold out, except for some models nobody wants to buy for some reason.