The 3 cent microprocessor – Padauk PMC150 #DieShot

There is a rather famous microprocessor from a Taiwan vendor, call the Paduak PMS 150C.  Its claim to fame is that is can be purchased for 3 cents in very low quantity.

Paduak also offers the PMC150 which share the same data sheet.  It is identical except for these two lines in the datasheet:

• Operating temperature range: -40°C ~ 85°C ( vs -20 to 70 C)
• High EFT series

It turns out the PMC150 has a completely separate die!

The summary

So, even though the PMC150 andPMS150C share the same data sheet and are 100% functionally identical they are different parts.  That’s unusual to say the least.  It shows the extent to which costs are driven out on parts at the very bottom of the market.  A 3 cent part for battery oriented designs, a slightly more expensive version for AC powered designs where the voltage regulation can be quite poor.

See the complete analysis on the electronupdate blog here.