Electronic part life cycle

The life cycle mismatch problem requires that engineers be cognizant of which parts will be available and obsolete when the product is to be manufactured. Next generation parts with improved performance characteristics must be anticipated in the design, to ensure that circuit timing, noise margins, and EMI nonconformances do not suddenly arise at the product level. An expensive part today may not be so at the time of manufacture, but assembly processes may have to be upgraded in order to use tomorrow's parts. If the product requires a long application life, then an open architecture, or a parts obsolescence strategy, such as preventive redesign, lifetime buy, aftermarket purchases or part substitution may be required. So, what is the life cycle of a part? Most electronic parts pass through several life cycle stages corresponding to changes in part sales. A representative life cycle curve of units shipped per time is given, which depicts the six common life cycle part stages: introduction, growth, maturity, decline, phase-out and discontinuance. The article summarizes the characteristics over the stages of the part life cycle, An overview of each stage is presented.