Product Status Designations
The product status fields on Pololu product pages are intended to help those designing the products into their own products or into curricula quickly determine if a product is likely to be available or appropriate for long-term use. Please contact us if a product you are interested does not have its status specified or if you would like to better understand why a product has a particular status.
The following product status designations are available:
- Active and Preferred: This designation is used for Pololu-made products that are active as described below and that we also generally recommend over products with similar functionality, for reasons that include being a newer design, being more efficient to manufacture, and being a more strategically important product.
- Rationed (Active and Preferred): This designation is used for items that would normally be designated “Active and Preferred” but for which our production is temporarily constrained, typically due to component unavailability. Methods for rationing include (but are not limited to) order quantity restrictions, temporarily raised prices, and reverse quantity breaks (i.e. unit prices go up with quantity). Coupons and sales will typically not apply to rationed products.
- Active: This designation indicates that Pololu expects to continue manufacturing or carrying the product for some time. If available, an item with Active and Preferred status is still recommended over an item that is merely Active. The Active status designation might correspond to a “mature” designation in some product life cycle classifications.
- Rationed (Active): This designation is used for items that would normally be designated “Active” but for which availability is temporarily constrained. Methods for rationing include (but are not limited to) order quantity restrictions, temporarily raised prices, and reverse quantity breaks (i.e. unit prices go up with quantity). Coupons and sales will typically not apply to rationed products.
- Not Recommended for New Design: This designation is used for products that Pololu is still manufacturing or stocking but which we expect to transition to Special Order Only, Discontinued, or Obsolete status. Usually, a better alternative product is available.
- End-of-Life Rationing: This designation is used for products that will be discontinued due to circumstances beyond our control, including discontinuation of key components or discontinuation of a product by the manufacturer if it is not Pololu. EOL rationing is done for products that are popular or have been in production for a long time and for which we expect the remaining available stock to be insufficient to meet historical demand. Methods for rationing include (but are not limited to) order quantity restrictions, raised prices, and reverse quantity breaks (i.e. unit prices go up with quantity). Coupons and sales will typically not apply to rationed products.
- Clearance: This designation is used for discounted products that will transition to Discontinued or Obsolete status once our stock is exhausted. Unlike “End-of-Life Rationing” products, “Clearance” products are in low demand relative to remaining stock and are therefore typically discounted.
- Special Order Only: This designation is used for Pololu-made products that we no longer actively manufacture, usually because a better product is available, but which we can still manufacture without modification to the design. We typically do not stock all components for such products, so lead times and minimum order quantities will be higher. Products with this designation are intended for high-volume customers who have designed our products into their own products or curricula. Some stock might occasionally appear for items with this designation, typically because of excess units from a special manufacturing run for a customer.
- Discontinued: This designation is used for Pololu-made products that are no longer practical to manufacture, perhaps because a non-critical component has become unavailable. Such products might require slight design changes or modifications to enable production with available components.
- Obsolete: This designation is used for Pololu-made products that are centered around components that are obsolete, making further manufacturing impossible or impractical. Examples include carrier boards for specific integrated components, such as obsolete gyroscope chips, where substituting a different component would fundamentally alter the nature of the product.
- Discontinued at Pololu: This designation is used for non-Pololu-branded products that Pololu no longer carries but that the manufacturer has not necessarily discontinued. Reasons for this status may include pending item discontinuation by the manufacturer, poor sales performance at Pololu, and changes in distribution agreements. Items with this designation will get less attention from Pololu following the discontinuation, so subsequent discontinuations by the manufacturer might not be updated in the product status.
- Discontinued by Manufacturer: This designation is used for non-Pololu-branded products that the manufacturer has discontinued.
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