>
>
>Things are different with Asian companies when you are physically there, you
>can often cut a deal with far fewer hassles.
>
>I suggest you carefully consider your business strategy if your product is 
>going
>to be dependent on such a component.


OK, well I wish I could be there in person-could probably walk in and ask 
and they'd bring out 1000 units for me at 1 dollar each:>:

Last summer, we had a house guest that lives in Japan. We put him on the 
web and had him search for some parts in Asian suppliers websites. It was 
amazing what's available if you read their language. But, the same websites 
are nearly empty when you click on the 'english' version. When you add this 
observation to the comments you made, it's clear they just don't give a damm.

My house guest also was telling me about visiting surplus electronics 
places in Japan....it appears you can buy almost anything cheaply if you 
visit there in person.

I had no idea they could expect me to pay 100 dollars or more for a 
handling charge!!!!!!!!!!!!

Having to pay large amounts of extra $$ just because I can't order 100,000 
per year ain't gonna cut it.

I'll wait and see how their shipping quote stacks up.

In the meantime, it's starting to look like I need to design the board with 
big smt pads to facilitate handling other vendors parts that have slightly 
different physical dimensions. By doing that, I don't lock myself into a 
particular vendors product and have alot more flexibility.

The circuit is an analog circuit and so far, the Spice software indicates 
the design tolerates other vendors parts well.

But, it sure would be nice to have a reliable source and not have to worry 
about vendors for a single component:>:

Thanks-look forward to reading more comments.

Art



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