To eMMC or not to eMMC, that is the question (or, sourcing eMMC) - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: msat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2022, 10:46:09 am
content: Hey guys,I want to start off with a little background: I'm working on a solo project that's intended for commercialization, which, if I'm lucky might be 10k+ units per year. I'm in need of a mass storage solution, somewhere in the range of 4-16GB. I've sort of been planning on using a non-user accessible uSD in a card socket, but vertical dimensions on one side of my board are very limited, and I have very little room to spare, so along with a few other reasons, I'm back to at least considering eMMC.Now, I've considered eMMC before but the market for these seems very opaque to me. In my design, I've tried to be very cognizant of the availability of each part I've used, judging either by distributor stock, or when possible, the manufacturer's own listed inventory. Every time I've looked in the past at eMMC, distributors show very few units, and the manufacturers don't publicly list them at all.So my question is this: Has anyone here used these in reasonable quantity in their own projects? Are these things even available to non-megacorps, and if so, without insane lead times? Is the only option to speak with the mfg's sales rep? This all seems so mysterious to me, and has put me off in the past (not to mention the annoying BGA package)Cheeers

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2022, 11:18:55 am
content: Quote from: msat on August 06, 2022, 10:46:09 amthousand available,https://lcsc.com/products/eMMC_11267.html

author: msat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2022, 11:37:04 am
content: I had already checked LCSC, and honestly, I'm not comfortable choosing a part with less than 10k in stock unless I know I can get the sorts of quantities I need with reasonable lead times.

author: langwadt
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2022, 09:02:52 pm
content: Quote from: msat on August 06, 2022, 11:37:04 am22000 in stockhttps://www.mouser.dk/ProductDetail/SkyHigh-Memory/S40FC004C1B1C00000?qs=OlC7AqGiEDmrnKkBUvMd0Q%3D%3Disn't all eMMC in the same package compatible?

author: glenenglish
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: August 06, 2022, 11:33:58 pm
content: it is not that hard to buy. just go to an authorized distributor. I have about 90 left in 8GB, 1mm pitch.... ISSI.and eMMC is fantastic to work with. all the error correction etc etuff is sorted for you. and you get 1.8V native fast interfaces-glen

author: msat
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: August 07, 2022, 10:40:42 am
content: Quote from: langwadt on August 06, 2022, 09:02:52 pmOk. Besides LCSC, I haven't checked the inventories of overseas distributors, but it still makes me wonder why US inventory of these parts has seemed so slim every time I checked in the past. In the case of Digikey, Kingston parts are listed as coming directly from the manufacturer, and their indicated stock is underwhelming.As for pin compatibility for a given package: to my understanding, it's mostly true. The critical pins are standardized, but there can also be vendor-defined pins, so you have to put a little care into your escape routing and not go thinking that you can route across the balls just because they're not defined in the eMMC standard itself.