this is totally unsubstantiated and just describing a train of thought I went through considering the AVR

At one occsion the AVR looked pretty good for a particular design and I considered it. What thoughts made me not choose it.
1) Last I used an Atmel chip it took months before the bugs in the chip were fixed by Atmel.
2) I guessed the following for '51 compilers: Keil 80%, Raisonance 13%, Others (IAR, HiTech, Tasking etc) 7%. For the AVR IAR seems to be the only choice. I do not feel comfortable using a compiler from a manufacturer that can not get a market share in a competitive environment.

again, unsubstantiated thoughts

Erik