Brian,

>      Of course Microchip listens...
>
>      However, we are still a relatively small company and out of the
>      1,000,000 things we have to do, program memory EEPROM PIC's are about
>      number 736,492.

Small, but doing very well (in at least two senses :-).

>      Also, when we ask our larger customers (who don't need to get together
>      to make bulk buys) what they will pay for a reprogrammable 16C73 as
>      opposed to a EPROM 16C73, the answer just isn't the one we want to
>      hear.

Just for my curiosity, how large is "larger"?

>      Everyone out there really needs to talk to a guy in Taiwan who will
>      give his mother and his left nut for a micro that costs 10 cents less.
>      The real world can be a scary place!
>
>      Rgds, Brian.                             bboles@microchip.com

I believe the only failsafe way to find out is to produce a version of
the 16C84 (16C84Lite?) where program memory reprogramming is disabled
(i.e. OTP), but EEPROM data memory is intact. Then see how much you
need to differentiate prices for the market to prefer it over the
16C84. If the market switches over to the Lite version for a marginal
price difference, you have a strong argument.

Cheers,
 Martin