Haribabu,

A number of 8052.COM participants are quite happy with the results they've gotten, both technically and business-wise from ATMEL products. I am not among them, but one has to be cognizant of this reality. The problem you're experiencing is not with ATMEL components, but with their business practices in India.

Clearly, there's a problem as described by you and by Jerson, with reliable supply of ATMEL components in India. This does, of course, make me wonder why they are used so widely, but, as Jerson has pointed out, small developers in India have yet to learn to cope with this reality. So long as you participate in this problem, it will continue to exist.

I know it is tempting to buy parts because they are situated with a vendor near you, dealing in the same currency as you use, and allowing you to avoid having to order, pay customs duty on, and pay postage for components from elsewhere in the world, but isn't it worth the savings in aggravation, schedule slip, etc?

The important part of refusing to use ATMEL parts lies not in your disuse but in your letting ATMEL know why it is happening. ATMEL can't alter the business practices of your Indian suppliers. They can, however, make their products more accessible to small developers like yourself.

Jerson has indicated that samples are not difficult to obtain. If you need a small number of components of a given type, ask for samples. If the request is denied, then you should follow up with a question about where you can reliably obtain known-good, known-genuine parts. You should also be prepared to design in a substitute from another manufacturer. Many components have similar, if not identical, cousins made by a competing manufacturer. You should be aware of those and be prepared to make a switch.

You should guard against leaping "from the frying pan into the fire," however. I don't know how difficult it is to obtain components from Philips/NXP, or any other manufacturer, there in India. I'd guess it will be worthwhile thoroughly studying out your options. Apparently, from what Jerson wrote, mislabeled parts are not uncommon. For that reason, you probably should have some sort of "incoming inspection" that will enable you to verify that each component you buy is what you have paid for. This is probably not as big an issue with prototypes as with production, but you probably want your prototypes to reflect the intended behavior of your production circuit. Otherwise, you won't know much about the circuit you're selling.

Be certain that you know the specifications of any components that you purchase, know how to test for those characteristics that are critical, and can, within a limited time, return any components that fail to meet those manufacturer specifications. A dealer who cannot return inventory found defective to the manufacturer has not obtained his product from the manufacturer, hence, can't guarantee that is what he claims.

Most important, of course, is that you don't retain components that you have proven to be defective. If you keep them, you will be likely to want to use them elsewhere. If they are known-faulty, or known-mislabeled, you'd be shooting yourself in the foot.

One key to continued success in your work is to know what you're buying and why you're buying it.

If you want to influence ATMEL's business practices in India, you must (a) communicate with others who have had problems with their products, and (b) let ATMEL know about these problems and that they're losing business on account of them. If you, as part of a group of, say, 25 or more small developers engaged in developing applications for eventual production, complain to ATMEL's representative in Mumbai, or wherever he's located, he'll consider that at least some of those products will make the transition to full production. If those MCU's are supplied by his competitors, he won't like that. It is up to him to make his products accessible and available. He has authorized distributors through whom you can safely buy his product. If the quantity is too small to please his distributors, then you can buy them through foreign distribution. Even Mouser and DigiKey are safer than what has been described, and they're no more expensive than what you've had to pay. Once your product reaches production volume, if you buy your parts through foreign distribution, having made it plain to the local distributors that you're doing that because it's safer, and because they've treated you badly in the past, things may change. If you then buy your parts through the local distributor, nothing will change, and you'll have the same struggle again in the next cycle.

RE