I have seen that PIC mcu cost is going very high their PIC16F,18F is very expensive compared to competition.

Is PIC mcu losing now??

 

I think it's probably time to find a new supplier...

How much do you consider expensive?

Have you ordered from microchipdirect.com?

 

Like I have written in several posts, I have been shopping for uC with hardware USB in DIP package, so far only PIC met those requirements.

Those competitors might be cheap, but they are not providing features that I, for example, need.

 

thanks to many webpages about circuits with stoneage PICs, no source code, and so on, many hobby users now consider Arduino.

How many webpages show circuits with new PICs?

You can google each PIC and see yourself.

 

thanks to many webpages about circuits with stoneage PICs, no source code, and so on, many hobby users now consider Arduino.

How many webpages show circuits with new PICs?

You can google each PIC and see yourself.

I would agree with this 100%.

It is the most frustrating feeling, when you see a cool project online, but all the information isn't there for you to try to copy. I would consider it a honour that someone should want to recreate a project I created, why would you _not_ share the information to do so?

 

I would agree with this 100%.

It is the most frustrating feeling, when you see a cool project online, but all the information isn't there for you to try to copy. I would consider it a honour that someone should want to recreate a project I created, why would you _not_ share the information to do so?

One of the Technical Electives that I took was Software Engineering. One of the topics in the class was Project Management. There is a reason that Project Management is its own profession with certifications and "stuff", and career path. Most people simply suck at project management.

 

I have seen that PIC mcu cost is going very high their PIC16F,18F is very expensive compared to competition.

Is PIC mcu losing now??

Microchip doesn't quit making parts but as they get older, the price tends to rise vs. newer ones. Most of the older parts have much cheaper replacements that are pin compatible and require minimal if any firmware revs. I've migrated several projects from old 16F stuff to newer parts with little problem.

That said, if you were starting a new design there are many alternatives that compete nicely on price - ARM for one. But be sure to check out the cost of the development tools, recurring compiler subscriptions etc.

My .02

 

It's a matter of supply and demand on the open market price for older parts that only have limited production runs. Demand for parts is high with limited availability.

My personal opinion is that Microchip is doing pretty well in todays 8 bit market.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/236...i-on-q1-2015-results-earnings-call-transcript

Our overall microcontroller revenue grew strongly at 5.3% sequentially in the June quarter, and was up 14.5% versus the year-ago quarter, achieving a new revenue record. All 3 microcontroller segments, 8-bit, 16-bit, and 32-bit experienced sequential growth in the June quarter, and all 3 microcontroller segments achieved record revenue in the June quarter. Microcontrollers represented 64.7% of Microchip's overall revenue in the June quarter.
We normally don't provide much color on our 8-bit microcontroller business, but I'm going to make an exception this time, because the results are exceptional and don't always get the attention they deserve. Not only did our 8-bit microcontroller revenue achieve a new record in the June quarter, the cumulative revenue in the last 4 quarters of our 8-bit microcontroller revenue was up 11.5% over the cumulative revenue in the prior 4 quarters. We continue to gain significant share as competitors have defocused in this area, while we have continued to introduce a large number of innovative new products that have captured the imagination of a broad range of customers who have design demand.
In fact, demand for our innovative new 8-bit microcontroller products introduced over the last 3 years have been so strong, it has outstripped our ability to ramp manufacturing fast enough. Steve will talk more about that later in his section today.
...
These have allowed our customers to expand the use of 8-bit microcontrollers dramatically, and the demand for many of these products have really exploded. These products are built on our latest process technology, proprietary technology that we run in our Gresham fab.

The 8-bit PIC is not dying.

 

It's a matter of supply and demand on the open market price for older parts that only have limited production runs. Demand for parts is high with limited availability.

My personal opinion is that Microchip is doing pretty well in todays 8 bit market.

http://seekingalpha.com/article/236...i-on-q1-2015-results-earnings-call-transcript

The 8-bit PIC is not dying.

yes they released many new 16F PICs recently.

If you google them, for images, you dont see many projects, if any.

If you, on the other hand, google old PICs like 16F54 or 16F59, well, you'll actually see *my* circuits.

Many PIC circuits on the web are using the 16f84 or 16f628- just google and you'll see.

also the available stock at Microchipdirect can give some hints how much they are used.

Checked today for a PIC32MX795MX512H / PIC32MX795F512L

While for older PICs they have 10000s at least, here only a few 100s.

But there are PIC users out there, sold some PIC32 recently to Russia, and nearly 100pcs 16f1503. I think the user base for new 16F PICs is small, and there are no good and cheap programmers (OK the PICKIT3 is cheap in my opinion, but 30 dollars or 50 are a lot of money for some people to, they rather go for the software USB USBASP. It costs about 2.60 dollar/bulk from China).

If there would be such a cheap PIC Programmer, even only for 16F54, many beginners would buy it as DIY KIT, same as such people still buy this old old CD4017 NE555 circuit as DIY kit. Nice if you can get it for 1.60/bulk from China!

 

yes they released many new 16F PICs recently.

If you google them, for images, you dont see many projects, if any.

I have no idea what the hobby market size is (and why they are stuck using old tech when you can get up to a PIC32 chip in a 28 pin DIP package) for controllers overall but the business demand is very strong for new 8-bit products and as you can see by the article and letter, fabrication constraints in production facilities is a problem today not a lack of users and buyers.

http://www.microchip.com/_images/Customer%20Letter-7-31-2014_2.pdf

 

If the projects you find around in the Web have not enough info for anyone to reproduce them is not the Microchip's fault. How that could be?

 

I think 16F are the most popular of the PICs today because of their unbeatable price. I don't think PIC32 is doing well - it is different from other Micrichip offerings and it has very strong competition from ARM Cortex based chips. Even though Microchip pushes PIC32 hard, I don't think they have any chance with it.

 

I much prefer the 18f over the 16f and the ones I use are very close in price?
Max.

 

Microchip may actually halt production of a particular chip long before the inventory is exhausted. The last few units no doubt command very high prices, because of the number of designs that use them that cannot be easily reworked. It is far more economical for Microchip to move a legacy design to a smaller feature size/larger wafer fab. I doubt seriously they would ever fire up an old fab to produce nearly obsolete parts.

The so called "bathtub curve" is typical of all semiconductor production pricing since the invention of the transistor in 1947.

 

I much prefer the 18f over the 16f and the ones I use are very close in price?

If you want to build 10 million devices, a $0.50 difference in price will save you $5,000,000, so for these guys every cent counts.

One customer who buys 10 million chips creates the same demand as a million customers who buy 10 each.

 

Also if you are a regular purchaser, either through distribution or direct, you will get EOL notices in plenty of time to make a last time buy and redesign for a newer part. If you're a hobbyist, then you don't get the same consideration, but then you don't have as big a stake in particular parts.