MK64F supply shortage!

[enginlee]

Hi All,

We made a home security system and MK64F is the main controller chip of the system.

Our customers already took long time for testing and certification, now it is time for production.

But we can't get MK64F chip from supplier because of chip shortage.

We know that MK64F is still active and isn't end of life, but does anyone know where to buy them?

52 weeks lead time is too long for us. Should we change to alternative solution (e.g. STM32, TI and Microchip...)?

BRs,

-Engin

[ICdirect]

Hi @enginlee 

I know I'm reading this pretty late here, but are you still having trouble with the MK64s, and is there still a need at this point?

I specialize in sourcing authentic OEM excess, I have a lot of success with the MK and MC series parts with my suppliers.

Send me an email if I can help, alessandro@directics.com

[bobpaddock]

I would not assume other suppliers are in any better shape without checking with them all.

It is an industry wide problem.

[mjbcswitzerland]

The semiconductor manufacturers need to bid on production capacity (I believe there is an 'auction' round that takes place every 6 months). Depending on the manufacturer and product line there are a number of bidders and slots go to the ones that makes the highest bid (as in an auction).

I heard that the Kinetis bidder was out-bidden at the last auction and so other product lines/manufacturers won these / or received more slots.

It may change at the next auction round and it may well be that the Kinetis bidders don't have the same financial backing as those from other product lines, but since the high volume PC chips (due to extreme demands) are the heavy weights at such auctions the embedded sector is having to take a back seat or pay much higher production prices.

The i.MX RT bidders did much better and that is why it makes sense to consider moving Kinetis designs to this range due to the fact that they are cheaper, much more powerful and able and availability is much better (with various peripherals that are compatible with those in Kinetis). It means a HW change but once done it saves the worry.
Kinetis is >10 years old and so slowly tuning to legacy mode (with normal price hikes as things get older and less interesting for the manufacturer to keep the old customers happy).
A mixture of these factors probably play a role but it is not just NXP.

Regards

Mark

[mjbcswitzerland]

Hi

If you are not requiring large quantities the best thing to do is find a part that is on stock still and purchase the quantity you will presumably need during the next year and then redesign for it.

I found this interesting showing how a lot of processor manufacturers are reliant on the capacity of TSMC and so are presumably queuing up (some being further at the back of the queue than others (?).

https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2021-semiconductors-chips-shortage/

Strangely when I asked a similar question some 5 weeks ago I was initially scolded that this is a technical forum and so such subjects should not really be discussed - https://community.nxp.com/t5/Kinetis-Microcontrollers/KL27-Availability/m-p/1225720#M59517 but maybe not being able to get hold of chips for products that have been in the development phase for many months may prove to be technical after all - especially when its launch date may have to be put back by another 52 weeks to get the technical bits and pieces that make it run?

For my own production needs I bought up what looked like the last stocks until Spring 2022 from whatever could be found on the various distributor's shelves and placed orders for 52 week lead time parts from then on.

Regards

Mark

[nxf56274]

Hi,

Unfortunately, all the kinetis product are out of stock status. So we do not have the better way to solve. 

Have a great day,
TIC

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[jacobvecht]

NXP has unquestionably deliberately abandoned those customers that use Kinetis microcontrollers. The Kinetis line was inherited when NXP bought Freescale (Originally Motorola), but NXP had its own line of ARM microcontrollers, so rather than competing with itself, it has ghosted the Kinetis users. The response from Kinetis users must be never to trust NXP again. It is quite clear that NXP is giving extremely low priority to restoring the supply of Kinetis chips. They have also doubled or trebled the prices of Kinetis for back-order. By not supplying Kinetis chips for 2 years, they can be assured that all Kinetis based products will be discontinued. The community cannot forgive NXP for this disregard. All kinetis users should switch to any ARM supplier other than NXP.

[SilentBob]

We have been using Kinetis processors in our medical products for several years to our complete satisfaction. Changing a MCU in a medical device is a disaster and not an option. Do you really think that we should say goodbye to NXP and Kinetis processors in the long term?

[Oliveira]

Hi,

I work for the postal service. We have a protocol translator equipment used in sorting machines that uses the K64F1M0 as its brain. It's not a commercial product, so we only make a few pieces a year and this year it wasn't possible. All of our suppliers have referred us to equivalent microcontrollers, with USB, ethernet, CAN, 4 USARTs, none in stock anywhere either. Not to mention that redoing a solution that has been in use for 4 years with no noticeable flaws and extensively debugged, there is no way to accomplish this in 6 months, even more so in a plant in operation. Impossible. So we are in the same situation. Hoping this will be resolved next year. It´s not rejoicing, but at least most actors in this field are in the same. As can be seen, there is no economically plausible solution in the short term.

Marco

[jacobvecht]

We too are asking that question.  Whether these chips are gone "for ever" is no longer relevant for us. We only need to ask whether we will exhaust our stocks of chips before we get more chips, and today (Feb 2, 2022) we received a clear answer. The answer did not come from NXP, but from looking at the delivery dates shown on the Farnell / Newark web site. We observed today that the Kinetis chips of interest to us have been postponed this week from early 2023 to mid 2023. From this we infer that NXP has again failed to secure a time-slot at a fab for continued production. We ordered chips in mid 2021. Any manufacturer that claims that they will deliver chips two years (and possibly more) after they were ordered, clearly is making insufficient effort to remain faithful to its customers. NXP has knowingly thrown its Kinetis customers overboard. 

[troelsoesteraa]

@jacobvecht We've abandoned ship regarding Kinetis and NXP in general. We had a pending order at Arrow for multiple thousand units of K22 series, but it was postponed indefinitely. That order was also placed in mid 2021. We've been forced to source parts on the grey (black) market, where the parts are available and manufactured last year - but this time, it is not a $4 component, but about $200. That is currently a good price.
I think we've reached a point in the component shortage situation, where this seems fully intentional by NXP.  We've changed to another manufacturer that is actually communicative and produces what they are able to. We didn't even consider the LPC series. Like you suggested, NXP are not communicative or interested in Kinetis.

My advice for people who can't source their Kinetis part for low volume production: See if it is possible to find stock of a Kinetis device from a different series that has at least the same amount of functionality, and redesign for that for the time being. If that fails, rest assured that if you change to something else, the ARM core design functionality is the same regarding NVIC, CMSIS etc., so you don't need to think about complications of this.

[SilentBob]

The delivery capability of all manufacturers is not trustworthy at the moment. Currently, I would not even have an alternative to choose from.

[enginlee]

Hi TIC,

Thank you for quick response.

How about LPC series or i.MX RT series?

Will you recommend us change to other product line for better supply?

BRs,

-Engin

[nxf56274]

Hi,

LPC and i.mx may be the good choice. You would better ask if the agent has the stock. Good luck.

Have a great day,
TIC

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