Cost of a microcontroller - is it very important?

A newbie here.
After reading a small portion of the discussion, this question comes up in
my head, is the cost of microcontroller a very important issue in terms of
picking the right one? How much a microcontroller CAN contribute to a
whole product?

Or is it the functionality, speed, power consumption and development
toolchain userfriendly-ness more important in the decision?

I am thinking about using Cortex M3 for my server cabinet temp controller
project, is it a bad choice in any context?

Many thanks in advance

Henry

"henza" <hychan@gmail.com> wrote in message 
news:A46dnRFYu_-2Xm3anZ2dnUVZ_oSunZ2d@giganews.com...
>A newbie here.
> After reading a small portion of the discussion, this question comes up in
> my head, is the cost of microcontroller a very important issue in terms of
> picking the right one? How much a microcontroller CAN contribute to a
> whole product?
>
> Or is it the functionality, speed, power consumption and development
> toolchain userfriendly-ness more important in the decision?
>
> I am thinking about using Cortex M3 for my server cabinet temp controller
> project, is it a bad choice in any context?
>
> Many thanks in advance
>
> Henry
>
>


Like all things it depends on the end application.  I've worked in an 
Automotive environment and where we were developing a high volme product of 
maybe 500k units/year for a relatively mature application then a $3 micro. 
is very sgnificant for a total product selling price of maybe $40.  On the 
other hand I've also worked on a product with a volume of only 1000/yr and 
product selling price of around $1k so then the $10-$15 micro. isn't so 
significant.  In this case it was a very new technology where factors such 
as reliability and safety were far more important than cost.

I believe military and medical applicaions tend to be even less cost 
sensitive for the individual components. 

henza wrote:

>A newbie here.
>After reading a small portion of the discussion, this question comes up i
>my head, is the cost of microcontroller a very important issue in terms o
>picking the right one? How much a microcontroller CAN contribute to 
>whole product?
>
>Or is it the functionality, speed, power consumption and developmen
>toolchain userfriendly-ness more important in the decision?
>
>I am thinking about using Cortex M3 for my server cabinet temp controlle
>project, is it a bad choice in any context?
>
>Many thanks in advance

For a server cabinet temp controller project, price doesn't 
matter. Choose according to which one will teach you the most.

For the kind of things I do (quantities as high as 100,000
units per hour) price is everything.  Do the math.


-- 
misc.business.product-dev: a Usenet newsgroup 
about the Business of Product Development.
     -- Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/>

henza wrote:
> A newbie here.
> After reading a small portion of the discussion, this question comes up in
> my head, is the cost of microcontroller a very important issue in terms of
> picking the right one? How much a microcontroller CAN contribute to a
> whole product?
> 
> Or is it the functionality, speed, power consumption and development
> toolchain userfriendly-ness more important in the decision?
> 
> I am thinking about using Cortex M3 for my server cabinet temp controller
> project, is it a bad choice in any context?
> 
> Many thanks in advance
> 
> Henry
> 
> 
Like Guy said:  Do the math.

If you're building 100 of something, _ever_, and you can save $10000 
worth of engineering time by spending $20 more per processor, you've 
just saved $10000 - $2000 = $18000, and you're a hero.

If you're building 100K parts/year, then spending $10000 worth of 
engineering time to save one thin dime per finished part is a 
break-even.  If you can save a quarter per finished part -- you're a hero.

Now go back to that first case, and ask yourself if spending $10000 of 
engineering time to save $250 over the life of the product is a good 
thing or a bad thing...

You should _always_ consider how many parts are going to be made, and 
how much of a hurry you are in to get working devices on the market. 
You'll _always_ be faced with having to spend money to save money -- 
it's just a question of whether the smart money gets spent on a 
(relatively) huge processor larded with resources to ease the 
development burden, or whether the smart money gets spent on development 
to use the thinnest processor possible.

-- 

Tim Wescott
Wescott Design Services
http://www.wescottdesign.com

Do you need to implement control loops in software?
"Applied Control Theory for Embedded Systems" gives you just what it says.
See details at http://www.wescottdesign.com/actfes/actfes.html

Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/> writes:
> henza wrote:
> 
> >A newbie here.
> >After reading a small portion of the discussion, this question comes up i
> >my head, is the cost of microcontroller a very important issue in terms o
> >picking the right one? How much a microcontroller CAN contribute to 
> >whole product?
> >
> >Or is it the functionality, speed, power consumption and developmen
> >toolchain userfriendly-ness more important in the decision?
> >
> >I am thinking about using Cortex M3 for my server cabinet temp controlle
> >project, is it a bad choice in any context?
> >
> >Many thanks in advance
> 
> For a server cabinet temp controller project, price doesn't 
> matter. Choose according to which one will teach you the most.
> 
> For the kind of things I do (quantities as high as 100,000
> units per hour) price is everything.  Do the math.

I just did and find them impressive, especially if the
manufacturing is 24/7 forever.  It must be a challenge
to find components in that quantity (0.9 Gparts/year).

I didn't think IC manufacturers could turn out parts at
that rate.  If they can, I'd think you'd need to be
mouth-of-the-factory to keep delivery logistics in hand.

>Guy Macon <http://www.guymacon.com/> writes:
>> henza wrote:
>> 
>> >A newbie here.
>> >After reading a small portion of the discussion, this question comes
up i
>> >my head, is the cost of microcontroller a very important issue in
terms o
>> >picking the right one? How much a microcontroller CAN contribute to 
>> >whole product?
>> >
>> >Or is it the functionality, speed, power consumption and developmen
>> >toolchain userfriendly-ness more important in the decision?
>> >
>> >I am thinking about using Cortex M3 for my server cabinet temp
controlle
>> >project, is it a bad choice in any context?
>> >
>> >Many thanks in advance
>> 
>> For a server cabinet temp controller project, price doesn't 
>> matter. Choose according to which one will teach you the most.
>> 
>> For the kind of things I do (quantities as high as 100,000
>> units per hour) price is everything.  Do the math.
>
>I just did and find them impressive, especially if the
>manufacturing is 24/7 forever.  It must be a challenge
>to find components in that quantity (0.9 Gparts/year).
>
>I didn't think IC manufacturers could turn out parts at
>that rate.  If they can, I'd think you'd need to be
>mouth-of-the-factory to keep delivery logistics in hand.
>

Thanks guys for the info. Appreciate it!