Decision brief · 4 November 2026

Last-time-buy orders: what is fixed before the final shipment date?

Quantity, shipment timing, price and availability can reach different boundaries in the same discontinuance notice.

Anvilmore Research Team

Generated illustration of shipping cartons and protective packaging on an industrial packing station beside a roller conveyor.

As of 3 November 2026

For an existing-component owner, how much decision time does a final-shipment date provide? A bridge purchase may have to cover production while a replacement becomes usable. The relevant question is which uncertainty the buyer can still change: the quantity committed, when it ships, what it costs or whether the quantity can be supplied.

Four manufacturer notices give different answers. NXP's April 2027 last-buy date sits beside an availability limit that can close supply earlier. Altera's March 2029 final shipment follows a March 2025 cancellation boundary, while schedule flexibility and price exposure remain separate. Those differences change what a procurement or sustaining-engineering lead can infer from the remaining calendar.

NXP's ordering cutoff does not reserve supply until April

NXP notice 202603004DN, issued on 17 July 2026, lists PCA9629APWJ and SC16IS760IBS,128 with a last-buy date of 20 April 2027 and a last-delivery date of 20 October 2027. Both affected rows carry the classification Limited Availability.[1]

That classification changes the meaning of the dates. NXP says these products are scheduled in order of demand received until the remaining manufacturing capacity or inventory is exhausted; after depletion, further last-buy quantities cannot be supplied. April is therefore an outer ordering cutoff under the notice. It does not establish that the buyer can defer the quantity decision until then and still obtain the required components.

The distinction comes from the affected rows. The same notice describes Standard End of Life products as having no known supply restriction, with last-buy orders supportable under NXP's discontinuation policy. Applying that generic description to these Limited Availability rows would remove the condition that matters to the bridge decision.

Nor does the notice establish that a listed replacement makes the transition immediate. NXP warns that most listed replacements differ in package and pin configuration. PCA9629APWJ has no replacement listed. These statements leave the buyer's transition timing unresolved; they do not establish a redesign duration or today's available stock.

Altera separates committed quantity from shipment flexibility

Altera PDN2412 Revision 1, issued on 30 September 2024, covers specified Stratix 10 MX, NX and DX devices using 8 GB HBM2 memory, with DX limited to the 2100 line. The affected ordering code 1SM16BEU1F55E1VG is one example. The notice sets 31 March 2025 for last order acceptance and 31 March 2029 for final shipment.[2]

Under its order terms, orders become non-cancellable and non-returnable, or NCNR, after the last order acceptance date. For a buyer with an accepted final-buy order, the 2029 shipment horizon therefore does not preserve the ability to cancel the committed quantity while demand or a transition plan develops.

Shipment timing has a separate provision: “Customers are allowed to reschedule 6 months before Last Time Shipments date.” This prevents reading NCNR as a statement that every delivery date is frozen. It also does not establish unrestricted rescheduling throughout the four-year interval.

Price is another boundary. The notice reserves Altera's right to revise the price of unshipped backlog beginning in 2026; it also advises customers of an increase from that year. No amount or realised price change is established here. A later shipment cannot be valued as unchanged-cost bridge cover solely because the quantity was committed earlier. The notice additionally makes final-buy orders conditional on supply availability.

A final shipment date does not establish near-term cover

InvenSense, a TDK Group company, issued PCN-000772 on 15 January 2026 for listed microphone devices and evaluation boards, including ICS-52000 and ICS-43432. Its 15 June 2026 last-buy deadline has passed; the stated final-ship date is 15 January 2027.[3]

The notice makes final-buy orders NCNR. Accepted final-buy purchase orders must state that condition for the period from notification to last buy. It also specifies a minimum lead time of 30 weeks. That minimum is neither an exact delivery quotation nor proof that a late final-buy order could cover near-term production. The wording does not establish that every pre-existing order automatically became NCNR on notification.

JDI Taiwan's Kaohsiung branch provides a historical supply qualification. Its 14 September 2023 LCD notice, including TX16D206VM0BAA and TX09D200VM0BAA, set last buy at 29 December 2023 and final shipment at 28 June 2025. It expressly qualified fulfilment of worldwide final-buy expectations by production yield and product availability.[4] The dates did not establish that every requested quantity would be met. This example says nothing about current stock or orders.

For the NXP component owner, the unresolved decision is how much transition uncertainty can be carried before supply runs out. For an Altera backlog holder, it is how a committed quantity supports the bridge while shipment scheduling, price and availability remain qualified. These notices support those distinct judgements; they do not establish a particular buyer's contract rights, sufficient bridge quantity or actual fulfilment. The final-shipment date alone answers none of those questions.

Source notes

  1. NXP 202603004DN, issued 17 July 2026: Availability Limited and Standard End of Life definitions; affected rows PCA9629APWJ (935300653118) and SC16IS760IBS,128 (935279279128); opening replacement qualification.
  2. Altera PDN2412 Revision 1, issued 30 September 2024: printed page 1, scope and Price Revision; page 2, dates and Order Terms (1)–(3); page 3, first affected ordering code.
  3. InvenSense/TDK PCN-000772, issued 15 January 2026: page 1, affected products; page 2, dates and Additional Information (1)–(2). Manufacturer-issued notice hosted by DigiKey.
  4. JDI Taiwan Kaohsiung discontinuation notice, dated 14 September 2023: page 1, product table, EOL dates and yield/availability qualification. Manufacturer-issued notice hosted by Anglia. Historical example.