The global chip shortage is here to stay, and it is hitting us particularly hard. It has been challenge to source parts, many of them are out of stock until middle of 2022, and some do not even have availability forecast. For example, the 3D compass part from ST microelectronics (LIS3MDL) which a couple years ago we purchased at under $0.7/ea, now sells at whopping $26.6/ea (volume price) at the only distributor who currently has stock. We would place a backorder at another distributors and they would just cancel our order, citing no expected availability date from manufacturer.
If you do not need the 3D compass angle based motion sensor capability, we suggest you choose the Wireless Tag Pro ALS or Accelerometer based regular tag which from our experience generally have more a consistent, longer battery life, due to the fact the 3D compass (LIS3MDL) has been hit-and-miss on its leakage current and quality coming out of ST's factory. This is probably also because it requires stringent special baking process before PCB assembly.
Meanwhile, to keep existing stock of products who use this part for people who really need it, we have decided to implement a 7-10% increase on the price we have maintained since 2013, until the chip shortage situation is improved, hopefully in late 2022.
Comments