Product shelf life
The product shelf life for semiconductor products after delivery to a customer is based on factors such as the type of materials used in the device, manufacturing conditions, moisture sensitivity level (MSL), the use of moisture barrier bags (MBBs) in product packaging, the amount of desiccant used and the customer’s storage conditions. TI carefully controls its internal manufacturing and storage processes to deliver products with appropriate customer shelf life performance.
TI product storage
We encourage customers to take these details into account when managing and assessing TI product storage and life span.
The minimum useful life of a TI product is based on the date of delivery to the customer, not the manufacturing date.
TI conducts extensive, long-term reliability studies to confirm its internal manufacturing shelf life policy. The studies “Shelf-Life Evaluation of Lead-Free Component Finishes,” “Component Reliability After Long Term Storage”, “BGA Package Component Reliability After Long-Term Storage” and “Long Term Storage Evaluation of Semiconductor Devices” confirmed that there is no degradation of a product’s electrical characteristics and no product failures associated with TI’s internal manufacturing storage practices. Additionally, TI takes specific actions in its product distribution centers to ensure the integrity of all material before shipment.
Because of advancements in technology, materials, manufacturing methods and logistics, TI’s manufacturing date code has no impact on usage, quality or reliability of products.
In summary, the minimum useful life of a TI product and the TI warranty period begins following the delivery of the product to the customer. For more information, refer to our terms of sale.
Customer product shelf life
How customers store TI products is critical. Customer product shelf life refers to the length of time that a customer can properly store a product after delivery. The way that our customers store and handle TI products is critical to ensuring that the products meet their expected customer shelf life. Please see the MSL information on TI product bags or boxes for instructions regarding the acceptable length of environmental exposure. Note that certain products are moisture-sensitive and therefore require packing in MBBs. We use dedicated MBBs and a defined quantity of desiccant that allows storage within this MBB. TI also includes humidity indicator cards (HIC) within its MBBs to ensure that product storage has not been compromised. If the HIC shows pink on >10% level, then the parts in that MBB will need baking before use.
TI’s policies and practices help ensure quality, reliability, and continuity of supply. Building, managing and holding inventory in a way that helps ensure continuity of supply to customers provides more immediate availability of products and helps minimize burdens caused by production constraints and end-of-life complications on mature products.TI’s policies help ensure continuity of supply. We build, manage and hold inventory in a way that helps ensure continuity of supply to customers. This provides more immediate availability of products, and helps minimize burdens caused by production constraints and end-of-life complications on mature products.
For more information, see our product shelf life FAQs or contact the TI customer support center.