cbmeeks wrote:
Anyone aware of any *new* products in any industry that calls for 6502's?
This isn't a gloom-n-doom topic, I'm just curious.
Most of today's sales of 65xx technology comes in ASIC form, not in discrete microprocessors. Manufacturers purchase a Verilog design flow from WDC, use it to program FPGAs or whatever, and then pay a royalty to WDC per unit shipped. In essence, the ASIC is a custom form of a microcontroller that has been optimized for a particular product, such as a cell phone or a microwave oven. Overall functionality and tight integration to the end product are the main goals, and the fact that the 65xx architecture is very flexible makes it a natural candidate for this sort of usage. Further helping matters is that the 65C02 and 65C816 ISA are certified for use in medical devices, especially implanted defibrillators and pacemakers.
As Ed notes, WDC is family-owned and has developed a very successful business model that proven to be unusually stable over the years (WDC is now in its 38th year of operation). WDC has a well-known product line that has been in continuous production since the early 1980s, and receives royalties from the hundreds of millions of 65C02s and 65C816s that are shipped every year in ASIC form. Although WDC is closely held, it's not too difficult to estimate that they see annual revenues of 8-10 million USD, which is exceptionally good for such a small company. It continues to be a successful business model and as Ed said, one that is not likely to diminish anytime soon if a succession plan is in place.
As an interesting aside, the 65C02 has been successfully realized in ASIC form that is capable of 200 MHz operation. Presumably, the 65C816 could be similarly realized. I wouldn't mind having a 200 MHz 65C816 to monkey with.