ThomasEdit: I just noticed that today the STM8S207RBT6 breakout board shown below is on sale - I just ordered one for $2.92. STM8S103F3P6 breakout boards are at $0.76 (both including international shipping fees).
About a year ago the price for STM8S003F3P6 chips (8K Flash, 1K RAM, nominal 128 bytes EEPROM) rose from $0.20 to up to $0.80, exceeding the price of the identical but higher rated device STM8S103F3P6 (8K Flash, 1K RAM, 640 bytes EEPROM). That was the time when manufacturers started to use Nuvoton N76E003AT20 chips (an almost pin compatible MCS51 style device) instead of the no longer cheap STM8S chip in many low cost boards. Ordering $1.50 boards, like the W1209, led in most cases to a disappointment.
I regularly checked the price of common STM8 devices to get an indication of future developments: it turned out that some devices sometimes got very cheap, like the STM8S903K3T6C dropping to below $0.30 until Chinese manufacturers found out that it can be used as a replacement for the STM8S103K3T6C.
Now, the "hobbyist purchase price" for STM8S003F3P6 devices drops again below $0.40. It will take a lot to turn it into the default choice for a low cost electronics, but let's see what happens - maybe ST will push "fatter" 8-bitters into the low price bracket.
In the meantime experimenting with STM8S207RB devices got cheaper:
on usual Chinese market sites a low cost (about $3.50) "STM8S207RBT6 Development Board" has appeared:
up to 32K Flash can be used for Forth programs, and up to 96K Flash can be used for storing data. 6K RAM should be sufficient even for most applications. The STM8S207RB binary from the Github Releases page should work without modification.
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You're right, the STM32F030 is a much more powerful chip, and the "street price" of the cheapest STM8 chips fluctuates heavily. However but the macroeconomic scenario appears to be a factor among others (the STM8S003F3P6 price was lowest when there was no trade war, and before the Nuvoton replacement was even available). Right now the STM8S003F3 is again marginally cheaper ($0.34 vs. $0.47), but not cheap enough to displace Nuvoton. Let's see what will happen :-)
By the way, the STM32F030 breakout boards at AliExpress are all but unusable (I bought one but it won't fit in a solderless breadboard due to a mindless design). It would be nice to publish something nice and simple on OSHPark.
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Their STM32F030 breakout boards are more expensive than the STM8.
Those generic TSSOP20 breakout boards work well enough for me and a lot cheaper than OSHPark can ever be. If you can solder the chip, then the rest of the stuff are easy.
https://hw-by-design.blogspot.com/2018/07/arm-stm32f030f4-breakout-board.html
The best part is that the STLink works for this too. ST license Keil's MDK for the F0 and L0 series.
BTW: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/0-8-0-65mm-QFN32-QFP32-adapter-plate-SMD-turn-DIP-5pcs-lot/32774086808.html
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I'll get some more STM8 if/when they drop to the old sales prices again. I have played with one recently in my timer project and like the built-in EEPROM. I still haven't got around to making EEPROM emulation on my STM32F code.
STM32F030 chips are still cheaper than STM8. There is a 32-pin version also around the same price as the 20-pin. They have more powerful peripherals and offers better values.
I think the STM8 pricing is really dependent on the Chinese supply chains. May be there were some excessive inventory at one point. The trade war slows down the demands for large productions and lowers the Yuen exchange rate. We might see some price cut soon?
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