I think there are a few big advantages to Microchip that have held true over the long term: * Easy, inexpensive to get into (you _can_ buy $$$ tools, but you don't have to) * Well supplied (can almost always get parts on a reasonable time table) * Keep older parts around longer (some customers and contracts require 5-10 year supply availability - notably some gov't work) * Low cost (not lowest cost, but certainly reasonable) * They turtle - they are conservative, and don't take big risks. Yes, there are a lot of areas where they are at a disadvantage, but the above are pretty major strengths. Don't know how that will play out in the long term, though. I always figured they took MIPs because they probably got a better deal than if they used ARM. On Thu, Mar 4, 2010 at 9:15 PM, Xiaofan Chen wrote: > This is I got from the OpenOCD mailing list. > > Silica releases something they call "Trendliner" which provides some > interesting info even if you don't use them. Here's the one for Feb. > http://s107.inxserver.de/inxmail1/html_mail.jsp?id=61576&email=&mailref=b0cq000o00000til > http://www.silica.com/fileadmin/Inxmail_Daten/Trendliner/Trendliner_Feb10/Trendliner_complete_2010_02.pdf > > So Microchip does have a good point over other MCU vendors! > And ADI is still the king of analog. > > -- > Xiaofan http://mcuee.blogspot.com > -- > http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive > View/change your membership options at > http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist > -- http://www.piclist.com PIC/SX FAQ & list archive View/change your membership options at http://mailman.mit.edu/mailman/listinfo/piclist