Zilog stops manufacturing Z80 CPUs around June 2024

[cpcitor]

The state so far

Some of you know that Z80 chips in the same form factor have been manufactured continuously by Zilog since, well, they designed it.

What's the benefit? Well, replacing the CPU in your beloved Amstrad CPC if it no longer works. Or making your own Z80-based computer, see e.g. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Build_Your_Own_Z80_Computer and the links there.

Ok, what else?

The sad news

Well, 5 days ago,  Zilog announced that they would stop manufacturing Z80s   : https://www.mouser.com/PCN/Littelfuse_PCN_Z84C00.pdf

You can still order some for around 8€ each. After that, no official Z80 from Zilog.

The 6MHz-rated version @8,89€
The 10MHz-rated version @8,71€ slightly cheaper
The 20MHz-rated version @15,68€

Sure, these days the exact chip doesn't matter that much in a world where you can (well, if you have know-how and time):
* make your own Z80 or variant of it using a FPGA that costs a few € like the https://www.latticesemi.com/iCE40
* and run one of the Z80 implementations you can find on https://opencores.org/projects?expanded=Processor
* then a whole CPC6128 on it (e.g. https://www.cpcwiki.eu/index.php/FPGAmstrad ).
* Or even use the FPGA-implemented Z80 as a drop-in replacement in the real CPC via voltage adaptation, 40-pin soldering and a lot of belief.

Anyway, possessing one of the last official Z80 chips might be a geek's gift after all.

[chinnyhill10]

It's not a huge problem. Stocks won't be running low any time soon. So many have been made in fact I doubt we'll see a shortage in our lifetimes.

They'll be large caches of 'new old stock' chips for years to come. Like when I needed to buy an NEC V30. Found a supplier in The Netherlands who sold me an unused chip date coded 1988!