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???
02/21/12 07:59
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#186087 - It's probably a risk vs. reward thing.
Responding to: ???'s previous message
Andy Neil said:
But it's the same chip, irrespective of the volumes the partucular customer is using.

If a low-volume user reports a chip bug, the chip manufacturer should be interested in case that bug affects their high-volume customers...


Possibly. However, high-volume customers tend to find bugs quickly if they are affected by them, especially those "happens once every couple of thousand hours on average" bugs.

If no high-volume customer has reported a particular bug yet, they're probably not affected by it (since they don't use that particular function/peripheral of the chip, for example), and engineering hours and the cost associated with producing a new revision spent on fixing it would essentially be wasted. Even worse, releasing a new revision of the chip might rouse suspicions.

Short version: The chip manufacturer probably accepts that there's no such thing as a completely bug-free chip, and will only fix those bugs that likely affect the majority (by volume) of its customers. Anything else is only fixed if it is inexpensive, or merely documented, or even ignored if deemed obscure enough.

List of 34 messages in thread
TopicAuthorDate
So what does "high volume" mean to you?            01/01/70 00:00      
   1 million sales            01/01/70 00:00      
   Depends too much on product and product value            01/01/70 00:00      
   In the cellphone market? Millions.            01/01/70 00:00      
      50k?            01/01/70 00:00      
         Report a bug and see what happens:            01/01/70 00:00      
            No help from SiLab technical support            01/01/70 00:00      
               unusual or changed or ....            01/01/70 00:00      
                  Response from local distributor            01/01/70 00:00      
            Shouldn't be the case?            01/01/70 00:00      
               It's probably a risk vs. reward thing.            01/01/70 00:00      
                  but, at least            01/01/70 00:00      
               Alas so huge amounts of false bug reports to support            01/01/70 00:00      
                  a valid point            01/01/70 00:00      
                     Not so sure about bigger companies have better skills            01/01/70 00:00      
                     it's difficult to provide persuasive evidence            01/01/70 00:00      
                        to prove a chip defect            01/01/70 00:00      
                           I'm guessing this happens because of slow response times ...            01/01/70 00:00      
                           I see it from a different angle ...            01/01/70 00:00      
                  RE: huge amounts of false bug reports            01/01/70 00:00      
                     That's why bug reports must be accompanied by evidence            01/01/70 00:00      
               I have twice had one such case            01/01/70 00:00      
         that value            01/01/70 00:00      
            Does anyone buy components at a "local" store.            01/01/70 00:00      
               Not anymore ...            01/01/70 00:00      
               seems to be the case in Farawayistan            01/01/70 00:00      
                  Early silicon            01/01/70 00:00      
                     even better            01/01/70 00:00      
                  It was common in the U.S. to buy small quantities locally            01/01/70 00:00      
               On-line            01/01/70 00:00      
   High volume usually means low margin.            01/01/70 00:00      
      High volume means high profit            01/01/70 00:00      
   Ask this question the mcu manufacturers.            01/01/70 00:00      
   In terms of products:            01/01/70 00:00      

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