Andres Tarzia wrote:
> I don't know what is driving the PIC prices, but as I said before, I don't
> think that we, as customers, will have a big enough impact as for forcing
> Microchip to lower prices JUST FOR OUR OPINIONS. Now, if Atmel, Motorola,
> and/or others start producing alternatives at a lower cost, that is a
> different story...

This is the whole point. I have done some research lately on 
'what is out there'. Here is what I found :

On the low range parts (12CXXX) we pay around 30% more for the 
ATMEL and Motorola, but then you get flash instead of OTP.

On the low to mid range parts, you pay around 15% less for 
ATMEL or Motorola, but you also get flash instead of OTP.

On the mid range parts (16C7XX) we are getting ripped by 78% 
more for an OTP Mchip part, as opposed to an ATMEL or Motorola 
(flash again). If you compare it flash vs. flash, you pay 
88% more for a Flash PIC than a flash ATMEL or Motorola. 
(I used the 16F877 as basis for comparison) 

On the high-end parts - hahahahaha. It doesn't even feature 
in the equation. If you use 17CXXX PICs, you deserve to be 
ripped off. You get more than double the features in flash 
from Motorola than from the PICs at *the same price*.

If I read you last paragraph again, it seems that we agree 
that there shouldn't be such a difference between competitors.

-- 
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