Semiconductor obsolescence is becoming a structural problem
The gap between how long electronics manufacturers need their products to last and how long component makers are willing to keep producing them is widening. For industries like aerospace, medical and defence – where a product can be in service for twenty or thirty years – the shift toward consumer-driven semiconductor lifecycles is creating a slow-moving crisis that is only now getting the attention it deserves.
Gunter Mößinger of HTV ALTER TECHNOLOGY has previously spoken to Evertiq on what this means in practice, and his conclusions are not particularly comfortable. The components that used to anchor designs for a decade are now cycling out in a fraction of that time, driven by demand for smarter, more connected consumer devices. The discontinuation notices are coming faster, and the window between notification and last-time buy is shrinking.
What makes the situation harder to manage is that buying ahead – the most intuitive response – introduces its own set of risks. Components stored for years are not simply waiting on a shelf unchanged. Intermetallic phase growth, where copper from component pins dissolves into the tin soldering layer, can render a component unsolderable before it ever reaches a production line. Managing long-term storage properly means controlled environments, active monitoring and processes that most companies are not set up for.
The industry has made progress on the proactive side. Obsolescence management has evolved into a recognised discipline, with dedicated roles and structured planning frameworks. But Mößinger is clear about where proactive management runs out of road: when a supplier exits the market without warning, or discontinues a product line unilaterally – when that happens, even the best-prepared plan collapses into reactive mode.
Redesign – when a product is already being updated – remains the clearest opportunity for genuine proactive intervention, and specifying components with longer production horizons at that stage is simply good engineering practice.
For companies taking their first serious steps toward managing obsolescence, Mößinger's starting point is simply rather practical: budget for it. The costs are real whether the response is storage, redesign or last-time buys, and acknowledging that openly is the prerequisite for everything else.
Gunter Mößinger takes the stage at Evertiq Expo Gothenburg on September 17, where he will present "Managing semiconductor obsolescence: storage, ageing, and long-term reliability."
