Our purchasing department has been complaining about shortages and
allocations on tants for several months.  It's definitely true here.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Stephen R. Gregory [SMTP:[log in to unmask]]
> Sent: Monday, January 10, 2000 1:52 PM
> To:   [log in to unmask]
> Subject:      Re: [TN] tantalum capacitors and Y2K
>
> In a message dated 01/10/2000 3:07:20 PM Central Standard Time,
> [log in to unmask] writes:
>
> << Hello, Technet,
>
>
>  Interphase purchasing personnel are foretelling a world-wide shortage of
>  tantatlum capacitors.
>
>  Reports are that certain capacitor manufacturers are refusing any new
>  orders, and that lead times via distribution are as great as twelve
> months.
>  This could cause even more premature (debatable) high contrast hair
>  follicles at this office.
>
>  I was of course taken aback by these little info-bombs; but I seem to
>  remember other shortages of this element along with interesting stories
>  about South African embargoes and other historic intrigue.
>
>  Can anyone corroborate this, or criticize the possible fiction?
>
>
>  cheers,
>
>
>  Jerry Cupples
>  Interphase Corporation
>  Dallas, TX USA
>  http://www.iphase.com >>
>
> Hi Jerry!
>
> You're email really intrigued me. "What? Shortages of Tantalum capacitors?
> How silly!" I thinks to myself...so I called a couple of companies. I
> won't
> name them, but they're big.
>
> The first one I kept getting transfered from extension to extension, and
> finally after the 4th or 5th extension, I was told that I would be called
> back by a Mr. so-and-so of investor relations...hmmm, I thinks to myself.
>
> The next company I called, I got a little more information from the very
> first person I spoke with. I basically asked if it was truth or fiction as
> to
> what you had asked in your email. There was this l-o-o-o-n-g pregnant
> pause,
> and then I was told that just between me and the other person on the
> phone,
> that this was starting to come to a head now, and it's been brewing for a
> while. I was also asked not to use the company name with this info. I was
> told that many other companies probably would not admit this either. The
> problem is simple supply and demand, and a lack of foresite. The price of
> the
> parts had dropped so low that companies weren't making any money on them.
> So
> they discontinued them...a big reason for the shortage. Also confirmed
> what
> you heard that many companies aren't accepting any orders for Tantalums...
>
> Very interesting huh?
>
> -Steve Gregory-
>
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