The end-of-life for a semiconductor product can leave OEMs of systems with long lifecycles scrambling for a supply of vital parts, forcing them into a difficult procurement situation. Some have turned to the so-called “gray market”, a term that refers to the fraudulent manufacturing and distribution of counterfeit semiconductors. The danger of the gray market is that there is no guarantee of a continuous supply, authenticity, quality or reliability of the parts. One alternative is to redesign the component out of the system, but this can be costly or impossible if the original design team is no longer intact.
The ideal solution would be to find a drop-in replacement from a contractually-licensed manufacturer and authorized distributor. OEMs should be aware that such a service does exist. Rochester Electronics provides continuing manufacturing and customer support for semiconductor products that are being discontinued by the original manufacturer. As part of the Extension-of-Life™ process, the company acquires the original manufacturer’s remaining inventory, including packaged devices, finished devices, die, intellectual property, tooling, test programs and test equipment, to provide continuous supply and extend the life of many semiconductor series. Semiconductor manufacturers such as AMD, Analog Devices, Fair-child, Freescale, Intel, Intersil, National, Texas Instruments and many others have authorized Rochester to provide continued manufacturing of devices that are no longer produced by the original manufacturer. Read more at www.mwjournal.com/Rochester.