How Long Will the STM32F103 Last? Three Replacement Routes
The question we hear most: how long will the STM32F103 still be around? It is not discontinued, but it is no longer the promoted family - stock is healthy and prices have settled, and new designs should evaluate alternatives.
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The question we hear most: how long will the STM32F103 still be around? It is not discontinued, but it is no longer the promoted family - stock is healthy and prices have settled, and new designs should evaluate alternatives.
Facts first: the STM32F103 family (C8T6, CBT6, RCT6) is still in normal supply as a long-life part; it is not EOL. With the shortage cycle over, stock is plentiful. But ST now pushes the G0/C0/F0 low-end lines and L4/H7 high-performance lines, leaving F1 closer to a maintenance part.
Three replacement routes. Same-vendor: STM32G0/C0 for lower cost, STM32F4 when you need more performance - not pin-to-pin, so peripheral init code changes. Domestic pin-to-pin: GD32F103, APM32F103 and CH32F103 are the common three; pinout mostly matches, but peripheral timing, Flash wait states, USB and ADC behaviour differ, so a peripheral regression pass is mandatory. Domestic non-pin-to-pin parts such as GD32E23 or CH32V cost less, at the price of re-evaluating the toolchain and ecosystem.
Four things to verify before switching: startup and clocks (HSE start-up, PLL lock, internal RC accuracy); Flash and erase behaviour (wait states differ, timing needs tuning at high clock); analog peripherals (ADC linearity, reference, DAC); and communications (USB, CAN, I2C slave timing - the most common failure). Verify all four on a prototype before rolling out, and keep both the original and the alternative in the BOM.
When not to switch: a part already in volume production on a stable design should stay put - the verification and certification cost usually exceeds the saving. New designs, small volumes or hard-to-buy parts should move to a current platform or a domestic pin-to-pin equivalent early, rather than waiting for a supply crunch.
Shenzhen Kewei Technology - phone/WeChat +86 191 2521 1182 - BOM matching: https://www.szkwic.com/bom.html
Kewei's take: what this means for procurement
News like this has limited short-term price impact but does shape the medium-term supply landscape. Review it alongside your quarterly purchasing analysis.
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