Column: Embedded design
It’s gone obsolete … again! By Myk Dormer, Engineer and Director, Smallwireless Limited L
ong (long!) ago, I wrote an article of two about the then-significant subject of component obsolescence in small electronic products. I would love to report that
this is no longer an issue. It’s not. If anything it’s getting worse.
Now (in the little RF corner of the world which I inhabit) it’s not just the “niche” components that we are losing. I am seeing what were once “basic” parts - like PIN and varicap diodes - being withdrawn. The last of the dual gate Mosfets recently slid into “not recommended for new designs” status, and I’m now seeing “end of life”
notifications attached to previously solid volume products, like LDMOS power parts, and UHF band SAW filters. Part obsolescence remains one of
the most painful thorns in the side of electronic design (and production) engineers in today’s industry.
Hitting end-of-life The reasons for a part hitting it’s end-of- life haven’t really changed – it all rests on the same “big four”: 1. Commercial: When a part (especially a niche one) is no longer selling in large enough numbers to make it economically viable to produce, so manufacturer stops production.
2. Technology: As manufacturing techniques advance, an older part can just be left behind - most obviously when semiconductor processes migrate to finer die geometries.
3. Materials: If the raw materials used in the fabrication of a part become either unavailable, or prohibitively costly (as may yet occur with tantalum), or illegal (such as lead or cadmium).
4. Financial: Where the sole supplier of a part has ceased trading, usually due to bankruptcy, but sometimes natural disaster or political instability. Unfortunately, knowing why a part is
no longer available doesn’t really deal with the ugly truth that a component
12 November 2025
www.electronicsworld.co.uk
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