SparkFun To Manufacture Teensy

Paul

Paul

Administrator
Staff member
We are excited to announce the expansion of our partnership with SparkFun Electronics to include the manufacturing of all Teensy products. Teensy 4.0, Teensy 4.1 and related accessories will now be manufactured by SparkFun in Colorado, USA.

SparkFun will also fulfill direct sales and also sell to other distributors, so you can continue to buy from stores which currently carry Teensy.
We’re taking this bold step with 2 main goals.
  1. Reliable long-term supply of Teensy. SparkFun is among the largest and best maker-focused electronics companies. As Teensy continues to grow, SparkFun has the manufacturing capability and sales teams needed to support that growth.
  2. Allow PJRC to renew focus on software development and the electronics community.
Ordering pages at PJRC will soon update with links to buy from SparkFun as we ship the last Teensy stock made in Oregon, USA. However, PJRC will continue selling chips for DIY projects based on Teensy design.

We will continue to host the Teensy Forum. With SparkFun taking the role of manufacturing Teensy and shipping orders, we’re anticipating being able to participate in more community and project-focused forum conversations.

PJRC and SparkFun have enjoyed a relationship for several years and we are looking forward to continuing to work together. We believe this partnership will secure a bright future for Teensy.
 
Not sure whether to be sad or not but know it will take a heck of lot of pressure/stress off you and Robin having to deal with supplier and manufacturing issues. Definitely should free up a lot of time etc.

So going to say congratulations and keep fingers crossed. :)

EDIT: Link to Sparkfun annoucement:

SparkFun Electronics is Now the Sole Manufacturer and Sales Partner for Teensy® - News - SparkFun Electronics

SparkFun brings the manufacturing of PJRC’s product in-house and becomes the sole sales channel of the Teensy® line!
news.sparkfun.com news.sparkfun.com

for purchase:

Search results for: 'teensy'

SparkFun is an online retail store that sells the bits and pieces to make your electronics projects possible.
www.sparkfun.com www.sparkfun.com
 
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Sparkfun offer cheaper shipping so that is good news.

I wish they will offer an option of no printed card. The Teensy I buy will into a board that I sell and I don't need the printed card. I've got thousands of printed cards that go into the recycle bin.
 
What impact will this have upon our European customers? Customers such as myself who've tried without success to buy both Teensys and audio boards.
 
Congrats!

I wondered when something like this would happen. Makes a lot of sense, since they already are making the MicroMod.

Should leave you with some coding time, and potentially new products.
 
This makes a lot of sense. A trusted partner who deals with supply and manufacturing means more focus on the all-important software and support side (which is the key differentiator from random Arm MCU boards that utterly lack a solid software support).
 
KurtE said:
Should leave you with some coding time, and potentially new products.
Click to expand...

Yes, that's my hope... especially coding time!

I'm not ready to think about any new products until Sparkfun has been shipping Teensy 4.0 and Teensy 4.1 for a while. We've been pouring a lot of work into this transition for the last few months, which is why you've heard less from me in recent times. It's taken a lot of work.

Regarding new products, Cortex-M85 is still pretty much a work-in-progress, even though ARM officially released it some time ago. Like Cortex-M7 which came out right as we were releasing Teensy LC and switching from Teensy 3.1 to Teensy 3.2, there's a years-long lag from ARM publishing the core to actual IC manufacturers shipping physical chips.

Just to be realistic, more coding time for me really ought to start in April. We're still wrapping up loose ends and shipping the last for the Oregon-made Teensy 4.0 stock next week. Robin and I are then planning to take 1 week off. I'll probably check emails and forum occasionally that week, but it is supposed to be vacation time. Not sure if I remember how to vacation. Pretty sure Robin will help!
 
The real question is whether they'll switch to a red soldermask...Congrats! Hope the QA stays good - I've never had an issue with a PJRC shipped product.

Has anyone used a newer MMOD batch in a longer term product? I bought a bunch of the early run of boards and had to have a bunch replaced. Found issues with some of the replacements, but it's been a while since I've ordered a MMOD. Been leaning towards rolling my own instead of risking the MMOD in a customer-facing product.
 
brtaylor said:
Has anyone used a newer MMOD batch in a longer term product? I bought a bunch of the early run of boards and had to have a bunch replaced. Found issues with some of the replacements, but it's been a while since I've ordered a MMOD. Been leaning towards rolling my own instead of risking the MMOD in a customer-facing product.
Click to expand...
Sorry Brian - all I can say is that I have been using a couple of the early batch on and off with out issue - must have got luck. Never tried running for more than an hour or so.
 
brtaylor said:
Has anyone used a newer MMOD batch in a longer term product? I bought a bunch of the early run of boards and had to have a bunch replaced. Found issues with some of the replacements, but it's been a while since I've ordered a MMOD. Been leaning towards rolling my own instead of risking the MMOD in a customer-facing product.
Click to expand...
@Dogbone06 was quite involved with Sparkfun around 2 years ago due to reliability issues with the NXP BGA joints coming undone from the thin, flexible PCB of the MM.
They did some rework to the HW I believe to try an minimize that issue.
 
Congrats on the big step!

brtaylor said:
The real question is whether they'll switch to a red soldermask...Congrats! Hope the QA stays good - I've never had an issue with a PJRC shipped product.

Has anyone used a newer MMOD batch in a longer term product? I bought a bunch of the early run of boards and had to have a bunch replaced. Found issues with some of the replacements, but it's been a while since I've ordered a MMOD. Been leaning towards rolling my own instead of risking the MMOD in a customer-facing product.
Click to expand...

I've been using the MMOD 8hs a day for the last year or so without any issues
 
Interesting view for something out for years (and still true) from the SparkFun page:

More speed and power than you ever thought possible in a microcontroller.​

Will be cool if/when they come out with the new generation of support boards for T_4.x like they have done for MMod and other SFun boards - and even their earlier T_3.1 support boards.

PJRC uses a couple in house/Beta that would be handy for use and prototyping. Like the 3-4 socket baseboards (with stand) and the 'simple' proto board.
 
I've been idly wondering whether Adafruit will continue to sell Teensies. Now, I realize that Adafruit sells some Sparkfun things, and Sparkfun sells some Adafruit things, and they address different markets. But the change of the supplier may change whether Adafruit will continue to stock the boards. I tend to have very few things I order from Sparkfun these days, but I order lots more stuff from Adafruit. I would often add Teensys to my Adafruit order, rather than doing a special order. It is not a big deal to order Teensys from another source, but it was convenient to bundle orders together.

Frankly if I'm buying Teensy 4.1's these days, I will get them through Protosupplies, and have them solder on the flash and PSRAM boards. I've done it in the past, but SMT soldering is getting harder on the old eyes.
 
Clicked PJRC link to SFun to buy T_4.1 and it has link to:
1742701308085.png

That links to : https://www.pjrc.com/teensy/first_use.html

Not seeing that as the best 'Product Manual' intro landing page with item on display some Pre T_3.x unit?

T_4.0 has 3 other links not on the T_4.1 page in that spot - suppose SFun is evolving ... but that 'first_use' page could be better?
 
It is with dismay that I see this news, just as I was about to launch a product line, based on the Teensy hardware!
My relationship with SparkFun is extremely negative, to say the least; five years ago, my (crooked) business partner, without my knowledge, sold our designs and my code to SparkFun and skipped off with the money. I only found out about this when I saw one of our products being offered at an electronics fair, and knew that I had not designed it. When I asked their representative where they'd gotten that, he freely told me that it was something they'd acquired. I pressed for more information, and suddenly he said "oh, YOU'RE THE GUY!" And he literally ran away. So they knew it was stolen.
It may only be my opinion, but SparkFun embodies the very worst of the "But you don't DESERVE to have those ideas!" whine. To hear that I'll have to support them, after what they did, if I want to keep on using Teensy hardware? Ugh. That's too much.
Paul, I have a lot of respect for you, and the work you've done. At this point, I've invested literally five years (at least) of time researching and building with your products. But I can't -- I won't -- support thieves.
Having just seen this, I have no idea what I'll do. It's terrible news for me, though I know it will help you, and I wish you the best.

-Rich
 
ariesboy571 said:
It is with dismay that I see this news, just as I was about to launch a product line, based on the Teensy hardware!
My relationship with SparkFun is extremely negative, to say the least; five years ago, my (crooked) business partner, without my knowledge, sold our designs and my code to SparkFun and skipped off with the money. I only found out about this when I saw one of our products being offered at an electronics fair, and knew that I had not designed it. When I asked their representative where they'd gotten that, he freely told me that it was something they'd acquired. I pressed for more information, and suddenly he said "oh, YOU'RE THE GUY!" And he literally ran away. So they knew it was stolen.
It may only be my opinion, but SparkFun embodies the very worst of the "But you don't DESERVE to have those ideas!" whine. To hear that I'll have to support them, after what they did, if I want to keep on using Teensy hardware? Ugh. That's too much.
Paul, I have a lot of respect for you, and the work you've done. At this point, I've invested literally five years (at least) of time researching and building with your products. But I can't -- I won't -- support thieves.
Having just seen this, I have no idea what I'll do. It's terrible news for me, though I know it will help you, and I wish you the best.

-Rich
Click to expand...
if this is true or not is something I have to stay out of. But I’ll tell you this:

SparkFun founder Nathan Seidle is a great dude. I’ve had a lot of direct contact with him. Trust me when I say that he’s invested directly in electronic design. He doesn’t just sit around. He is actually working and designing stuff. So his heart is in the right place when it comes to electronics.

I’m sure that if you throw him an email with proof, he’ll take it seriously.
 
Hi Paul,

I'm planning to buy a Teensy 4.1 and OctoWS2811 Adapter.

I've noticed that the double insulator header pins are out of stock on your website, and not available from Sparkfun.

They seem to be unique to PJRC (I've searched on Google and can't find any other retailers selling them), so I was wondering if these will eventually become available on Sparkfun? If not, can you advise how the two boards could be connected without them?

Thanks,
Phil
 
Long header pins are possible, e.g.:
www.sparkfun.com

Break Away Headers - Long

These break away headers are 20mm long which allows you use them socket to socket.
www.sparkfun.com www.sparkfun.com
20 mm length is sufficient. I measured it.

You can also connect the 8 pins + 5V + GND using wires or on a circuit board.

Or design a PCB. In that case you could design the whole adapter...
 
TomChiron said:
Long header pins are possible, e.g.:
www.sparkfun.com

Break Away Headers - Long

These break away headers are 20mm long which allows you use them socket to socket.
www.sparkfun.com www.sparkfun.com
20 mm length is sufficient. I measured it.

You can also connect the 8 pins + 5V + GND using wires or on a circuit board.

Or design a PCB. In that case you could design the whole adapter...
Click to expand...
Thanks for your help Tom!
 
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