>> I am looking at large quantities, amd at the moment I can source
>>  them at around AU$1, but if I can fins an manufacturer in Asia
>> or somewhere that can supply at a much better price I would be
>>  very happy. I heard a possibility of something in Taiwan, but
>>  am having trouble getting any leads on that...

So you're explicitly soliciting pirated intellectual property?
AFAIK, Microchip hasn't licensed their chips to any second sources,
so any exact equivalents not from microchip are pretty much by
definition "stolen."

I've heard that there are some chips available in pre-tested form
at some discount, aimed at competing with clone vendors...

BillW
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