Teensy 3.1 obsolescence

[macaba]

Hi all,

I'm considering the use of Teensy 3.1 and W8200 to implement an optional Ethernet capability to an existing product.

Quantities are in the range of 100 a year so in my mind that means using Teensy 3.1's from PJRC mounted on another PCB rather than doing my own custom PCB.

Can I depend on Teensy 3.1 being available for 5 years?

As far as I can see it depends on multiple things:

- MK20DX256 being in production
- Retailers stock of MK20DX256
- PJRC stock of MK20DX256
- PJRC planned obsolescence of Teensy 3.1
- PJRC releasing pin-compatible, cpu-comparable new boards in future
- My own stock of Teensy 3.1

Does PJRC have a plan if unfortunate life circumstances were to get in the way?

 

[PaulStoffregen]

Freescale has an assurance of the Kinetis production. I'm not going to speak for Freescale, so please check their website.

PJRC certainly isn't planning to discontinue Teensy 3.x. It's very likely, at some point, another highly compatible model will effectively replace 3.1, much like 3.1 replaced 3.0. When/if a 3.2 model is made, it'll be a drop-in replacement.

However, we did make one final batch of 3.0, because some people requested the older version. I'm pretty sure very few other companies in our position would have done so. At the incredibly slow rate those final 3.0's are selling, it seems likely they'll be around for quite some time!

We have a long history of keeping stuff available. The risk is very low, probably a lot lower than many other parts on the electronics market.

 

[macaba]

Thank you Paul - I had suspected, given your commendable ethos, that I wouldn't have an issue. Thanks for confirming it.