So many versions. Why?

I’d like to get your opinion on something

For this Viewpoint I’m looking for your perspective. I can’t figure out why companies make so many versions of things.

A while ago I was looking for a countertop microwave oven and went to the GE Web site. GE makes 33 versions of countertop microwaves. Just countertop, not built-in. Why so many? OK, there are different colors. GE makes 12 versions of white countertop microwaves. And, yes they vary in volume from 1 to 2 cubic feet and in power from 800 to 1200 W but still you could easily get away with three models instead of 12.

And any good EE tries to keep the BOM of a new design at a minimum so parts don’t have to be priced, purchased, shipped, stocked, and assembled. So why so may models? It has got to be expensive to keep up all the bill-of-materials and assembly methods and instruction manuals and so forth.

And it’s true of most things. Microprocessors? I can’t imagine how many total versions of 8-bit MCUs Microchip has. I didn’t ask them (as they might think this is a negative story), but I’m sure it is thousands. The Digi-Key Web site has 8,656 items under Microchip microcontrollers. Every time I cover a new MCU they have 8 or 10 or more versions with 64 K of flash rather than 128 K, or a 10-bit A/D instead of a 12-bit, or three USB ports rather than two. So they have to handle all these part numbers in their databases and in whatever printed literature they still produce. Is it unnecessary complexity?

When I was a kid, I wondered why GM made the same car over four or five times with a Chevy, Pontiac, Oldsmobile, Buick, and maybe Cadillac nameplate. Of course, as of recently they don’t, with the death of Pontiac and Olds. But, they said it cost ‘em a billion dollars to develop a new model. Seems like a waste of effort and money to make lots of versions of the same thing to me. I guess this is the marketing/branding class I didn’t take in college.

Jim Harrison

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