ICBOMS

Obsolete & End-of-Life Electronic Components — How Sourcing Works

ICBOMS is an independent China obsolete IC supplier, electronic components broker, and turnkey semiconductor sourcing desk in Shenzhen. We supply electronic components that are end-of-life (EOL), obsolete, or allocation-constrained — covering MCU, FPGA, memory, power management, analog, logic, interface, and RF lines — for boards that are still in production or field maintenance. Send a bill of materials (Excel/CSV) and each line is matched against its manufacturer datasheet before it is quoted. Lines are supplied as new and surplus stock; price, available quantity, date code, and lead time are confirmed per line on the quotation.

What “obsolete” actually means

Component obsolescence has a formal vocabulary, and the status a part is in determines what a buyer should actually do about it:

Active
In production and orderable through franchised distribution. Where a line is active and available through an authorized channel, that remains the correct source — the case for sourcing an active part independently is a supply or allocation problem, not an obsolescence problem.
NRND — Not Recommended for New Designs
Still manufactured, but the manufacturer steers new designs to a successor. Supply is generally still reliable, which makes NRND the cheapest moment to place a last-time-buy: the part is still in production, so the order is an ordinary order rather than a market search.
Last-time-buy (LTB) — announced end of production
A final order date has been published. After it passes, the quantity already in distribution is the entire remaining supply. Obsolescence management exists largely because of this status: it is the last point at which a shortage can be solved with a purchase order instead of a redesign.
End-of-life / discontinued (EOL)
No longer manufactured. Remaining supply is distribution residual stock, surplus inventory, and the independent market. Where the part is a commodity with pin-compatible alternatives the practical answer is often a cross-reference; where it is a programmed or application-specific device, the answer is usually sourcing.

The routes available when a line goes obsolete

When a component reaches end-of-life the route chosen depends on how much of the design is bound to that specific part:

  1. Last-time-buy before the deadline. The cheapest and most reliable route when it is still available, and the one most often missed. It requires a lifetime consumption forecast, which is precisely the number most teams do not maintain — so the deadline tends to arrive before the analysis does.
  2. Distribution and surplus residual stock. Residual stock persists with distributors, OEMs and contract manufacturers long after production stops. It is genuine product and normally the first place to look, but it is finite and it thins unevenly across package and temperature-grade variants of what is nominally the same part number.
  3. The independent and spot-buy market. When residual stock is exhausted, remaining goods sit with specialist brokers and surplus houses. This is where obsolete and allocation-constrained lines are actually found, and it is also where remarked, re-binned and out-of-specification stock concentrates — so the search and the screening are the same operation.
  4. Cross-reference to a compatible part. Where the device is not application-specific, a pin-compatible or functionally equivalent part from another manufacturer frequently exists, and for commodity MCU, memory, logic and analog lines this is a well-established route. It depends on matching the parameters that actually constrain the design — package, pinout, voltage, timing, temperature grade — rather than on a part-number resemblance.
  5. Redesign to a current part. Where no compatible part exists and the sourced supply has run out, redesign is the remaining option. For a programmed or application-specific device this can be substantial, including firmware and re-qualification, which is why it is worth costing early rather than during a line stop.

How ICBOMS sources an obsolete part

Sourcing an obsolete component is a screening problem as much as a search problem. The process run on a bill of materials:

  1. Match every line against its datasheet. Each part number is matched to its manufacturer datasheet — package, temperature grade, speed grade, voltage range. Component part numbers encode these in their suffixes, and on obsolete lines the suffix is exactly where mismatches hide.
  2. Establish the lifecycle status per line. Active, NRND, last-time-buy or end-of-life. This determines whether the honest recommendation is the authorized channel, a last-time-buy, or a market search — and it is the difference between solving a shortage and paying a premium for one.
  3. Search across the market for the specific variant. Availability inside a single part number is uneven across package, temperature grade and revision. The search is run against the exact variant required rather than the base number, because a commercially equivalent part in the wrong grade is not a substitute.
  4. Propose cross-references where they exist. Where a compatible part exists, it is proposed with the parameters that were matched and the differences that were not — so the substitution decision stays with the engineer who owns the design rather than being made silently by the supplier.
  5. Screen the lot before quoting. Each lot is screened against the manufacturer datasheet before it is quoted. A line that cannot be matched to its datasheet is not quoted.
  6. Quote per line, then consolidate. Price, available quantity and lead time are confirmed per line on the quotation, since on an obsolete part they depend on which specific stock is found. The bill of materials is then consolidated into one tracked shipment.

How authenticity and condition are established

Component counterfeiting is the most industrially sophisticated of the electronic categories, and the honest position is that verification reduces risk rather than eliminating it.

Datasheet match as the first screen
Every line is matched against the manufacturer datasheet for the parameters that constrain the design. A line that does not match its datasheet is not quoted.
Lot, marking and packaging inspection
Lot codes, date codes, marking style and packaging are compared against the manufacturer's conventions. Inconsistent marking within a lot, or a date code inconsistent with the part's production history, is the classic fingerprint of remarked stock.
Source channel and documentation
The provenance of the stock and the documentation that travels with it is the strongest available signal, and it is the reason residual distribution stock is preferred over anonymous market stock for the same part number.
Stated condition per line
Condition is stated per line on the quotation. Lines are supplied as new and surplus stock.
Declining to quote
A line that cannot be matched to its datasheet, or whose documentation does not survive inspection, is not quoted — a deliberate control rather than a failed search.

How obsolescence coverage shows up in the catalog

Obsolescence coverage is visible in how the catalog is built:

  • Long-lived lines stay reachable: end-of-life and obsolescing series sit beside current ones under the same manufacturer rather than being pruned from the listing.
  • Product pages publish the electrical and package specifications as text, so a part number can be matched and compared without opening a datasheet download.
  • Alternative and same-series devices are linked from each product page, which is what makes a cross-reference findable at the moment the original turns out to be unavailable.
  • A bill of materials spanning many suppliers is consolidated into one tracked shipment rather than arriving as a series of partial deliveries.

Obsolete and end-of-life part numbers in our catalog

These are discontinued, end-of-life, NRND or last-time-buy lines currently listed in our catalog — the status is the manufacturer's own lifecycle state, not ours. Each links to the part page with its specifications and datasheet; send the part number or the whole BOM and we check current availability before quoting.

Availability of obsolete lines changes daily — this list is the catalog, not a stock guarantee. Nothing here is quoted until we verify it.

Obsolete and EOL parts by manufacturer

Manufacturers with discontinued, end-of-life, NRND or last-time-buy lines listed in this catalog, largest inventory of such lines first.

Micro Commercial Co94onsemi89Taiyo Yuden77Renesas Electronics America Inc73TDK Corporation69STMicroelectronics67Texas Instruments66Lattice Semiconductor Corporation58Renesas Electronics Corporation44Diodes Incorporated43Bourns Inc.39Cornell Dubilier Electronics (CDE)28Murata Electronics23Toshiba Semiconductor and Storage21Vishay Beyschlag/Draloric/BC Components21NXP USA Inc.16Analog Devices Inc./Maxim Integrated11Atmel11Espressif Systems11Microchip Technology11Comchip Technology10Fairchild Semiconductor10Allegro MicroSystems9Omron Automation and Safety9Cypress Semiconductor Corp8Luminary Micro8Littelfuse Inc.7MaxLinear, Inc.7National Semiconductor7Power Integrations6Sharp Microelectronics6CEL5Infineon Technologies5Vishay General Semiconductor - Diodes Division5Vishay Siliconix5

Obsolete parts: buyer questions

What does EOL mean for an electronic component?
EOL — end-of-life — means the manufacturer has stopped producing the part and it is no longer orderable through franchised distribution. Remaining supply is distribution residual stock, surplus inventory held by OEMs and contract manufacturers, and the independent market. Because component availability is specific to the package, temperature grade and revision, an EOL part can remain findable in one variant long after another variant has disappeared.
What is the difference between NRND, last-time-buy and EOL?
NRND means the part is still manufactured but not recommended for new designs — supply is generally still reliable. Last-time-buy means a final order date has been published, after which nothing more will be made; it is the last point at which a shortage can be solved by purchasing rather than redesigning. EOL means production has already stopped. The three require different responses, which is why treating them as one status leads to bad decisions.
Can obsolete electronic components still be sourced?
Yes, commonly. Discontinued lines persist in the supply chain for years as residual and surplus stock in distribution, at OEMs and at contract manufacturers, plus independent-market stock. Availability is finite and generally thins over time, so the economics of sourcing a part are best in the years immediately after end-of-life.
How do I find a cross-reference for a discontinued IC?
Match on the parameters that actually constrain the design rather than on part-number resemblance: package and pinout, supply voltage, speed and timing, temperature grade, and any peripheral or memory configuration the firmware depends on. For commodity MCU, memory, logic and analog lines a compatible part from another manufacturer is frequently available. Where a substitute is proposed, the parameters that were matched and the differences that were not should both be stated, because on a programmed or application-specific device a part-number-equivalent part can still be functionally wrong.
How can I tell whether a component is genuine?
There is no decisive test, and any supplier claiming complete certainty is overselling. The signals that carry real weight are provenance and its documentation, consistency of lot and date codes with the manufacturer's own conventions, and a match against the datasheet on every parameter that constrains the design. The practical control is to buy from a supplier that screens lots against the datasheet, states condition per line, and declines to quote lines it cannot verify.
Do you supply new or used components?
Lines are supplied as new and surplus stock only. Condition is stated per line on the quotation.
How is a bill of materials with obsolete lines quoted?
Send the bill of materials and each line is answered individually: whether it can be sourced, in what condition, and at what price — confirmed per line on the quotation, because on an obsolete part these depend on which specific stock is found rather than on a list price. The lines are then consolidated into one tracked shipment.

Send a part number or a BOM

Send the part numbers — a single line, a list, or a full bill of materials — and each line is answered with whether it can be sourced, the condition it is in, and its price. Price, available quantity and lead time are confirmed per line on the quotation.

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