Cyclone III Availability

[JeffPeck]

I'm trying to build an existing design that uses Cyclone III devices.  I realize supply is constrained, but when might I expect to be able to purchase devices (e.g.: EP3C16Q240C8N) though distributors?

I ordered parts a year ago and lead-times were estimated at 77-weeks back then.  Now I can't get ANY information on when parts might be available again.

Can you give me ANY forecast of when Cyclone III parts will be available through distributors again?

[ak6dn]

This is mainly a user forum, so people commenting (like me) that don't work for Intel have no inside information.

If an Intel employee responds, they are going to say: "... please contact your nearest local Intel sales office for more information."

In most cases I don't think any distributors really have a good idea (nor do Intel sales offices) when the pipelines of parts will flow again.

Right now, semiconductors of all types are supply constrained, and are going to large customers with existing supply contracts.

Some of them are not even getting all the parts they want.

Distributors are last on the list, and mostly get parts not pre-committed to large customer orders.

IMHO it is going to take a year or more for things to get back to even close to normal, when distributors had stock they could ship.

If you only need a few pieces, you might try the secondary markets (like eBay, etc). But be careful -- you can get sold counterfeit devices. Due to pricing and availability, the incentive to remark devices as something they are not, and sell them as 'real', is very high. So buying devices from an unknown seller in China, for example, without a guarantee of a return if they do not work, is problematic at best.

Good luck. Glad I'm retired now and do not have to deal with this sh**show for real.

[JeffPeck]

I called Intel sales, marketing and support offices and they told me to post the question here.  I was hoping someone from Intel would monitor and answer.  Intel not giving ANY estimate for is not a good look and it makes it hard to design Intel into a circuit.  I HATE what Intel has done to the low-cost FPGA market.

[ak6dn]

Unfortunately the current market conditions for semiconductors is not just an Intel problem nor is it just an FPGA or CPLD problem.

It is across all types of semiconductors and all vendors. Production is running at high rates, but demand is even higher.

Try and source FPGAs thru Xilinx or Microchip. You will see the same out of stock / long lead times. It is not Intel specific.

That being said, the kind of 'when will you really be able to ship devices to me' info is normally given in confidence under NDA.

Believe me, all of Intel's big customers that have direct parts purchase contracts (they don't buy thru distributors) have more info.

But you are not going to get that here in a public forum, that info is considered key business info and is not generally made public.

You may not like that, but that is the way it is, with Intel, or Xilinx, or any major vendors.

[PYtte · Accepted solution]

When we asked a supplier we got "Not until 2024" for most Cyclone devices. Guess that is in line with what Intel stated today in the news about the chip shortage lasting until 2024. Might be able to get your hands on some few devices before that but do not expect to be able to order large quantities for a long time.

[JeffPeck]

Thank you! Finally, some answer.  I don't understand why it needed to be a secret.