[sdiy] On the Internet, talk is cheap

[Dan Snazelle]

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 6, 2013, at 7:44 PM, "Paul Schreiber" <synth1 at airmail.net> wrote:

> [about the SSM2164 and any other IC that is going away]
> 
> a) you would figure CEM ICs would be a hot commodity in 1997-98, since only
> a few people had any (Dave Longo......cough). When I struck the deal with
> Doug Curtis for his NOS, I announced it, set up a website (which was VERY
> expensive back then), spammed everyone. I asked people that  *IF THEY WERE
> TRULY INTERESTED* in an *IMMEDIATE PURCHASE*, please send me an email.
> 
> So, the day before the chips arrived, I had ~ 800 emails.
> 
> Starting interest = 800 emails
> Bulls**t factor = 0.5
> 
> So say 400 emails were what I would consider 'serious' and then from those
> maybe 300 were 'immediate' and the others would be 'when I deliver a few
> more pizzas'.
> 
> I bought like 400 Uline boxes, bags, ESD labels, Avery labels and foam. I
> formally announced and waited.
> 
> The incoming orders went something like this:
> 
> Day 1: 2
> Day2: 0
> Day3 :1
> Day4: 0
> Day5: 0
> Day6 : 4 >>>got those pizzas out the door
> ........
> 
> Day 30: at total of about 14 orders. In a MONTH. It took me *3 years* to
> *break even*. And this was for (supposedly) the hottest, hardest to find ICs
> on the planet.
> 
> b) the analog chips of yore all on high-voltage (meaning 40V) process. Last
> time I checked, the iCrap doesn't run on +-15V. In fact, ever since Maxim
> invented the MAX232 RS-232 converter with the built-in charge pumps, there
> hasn't been a negative supply used in any PC and that was like 1988. Also,
> these 40V chips need a LOT of masks (like 50) versus the generic 0.18u TSMC
> digital parts (like 22) and remember, you pay *per wafer*, makes NO
> DIFFERENCE what the hell is on it or how many. Each technology has a fixed
> wafer cost. The typical MPU today on 0.18u has a die cost of probably 15
> cents. The 6u 40V die for an op amp is probably 4 cents. But if I am
> Qualcomm I can charge HTC $17 for a "baseband processor" in the cell phone,
> but if I am TI or ADI what the hell can I get for an op amp? 12 cents?
> 
> Like was said before: it's NOT THE CHIP that gets obsoleted, it's the
> PROCESS FOR THE WAFERS. If the wafers can't attract business, then the
> wafers dry up and therefore the ICs associated with that wafer go away. I
> used to work for a military electronic company that used a special high-temp
> (125C operating) analog switch on a 12u process (100 times larger than
> modern stuff) and that process went tits-up in like 1994. But they did a
> last-time buy of like 100,000 die (which basically fits in 2 4-drawer file
> cabinets) and that was a *100 year supply*. In the IC industry, anytime you
> see 'last-time buy' that means you are on the die reserve, that process is
> LONG GONE.
> 
> Paul S.
> 
> 



Very interesting and informative email !!!!



Thanks



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