Fidonet Portal
From:
Chris Green (2:221/10)
To: All
Date: Sun, 02.01.22 18:51
Why are Pis in such short supply at present?
To: All
Date: Sun, 02.01.22 18:51
Why are Pis in such short supply at present?
From: Chris Green <cl@isbd.net>
It seems almost impossible to buy a Pi 4 for a reasonable price at the
moment, why? I know computer hardware is in somewhat short supply but
other SBCs (such as the Beaglebone) are readily available at normal
prices so what's happened to the Pi?
--
Chris Green
·
---
* Origin: rbb.fidonet.fi - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10)
It seems almost impossible to buy a Pi 4 for a reasonable price at the
moment, why? I know computer hardware is in somewhat short supply but
other SBCs (such as the Beaglebone) are readily available at normal
prices so what's happened to the Pi?
--
Chris Green
·
---
* Origin: rbb.fidonet.fi - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10)
From:
Theo (2:221/10)
To: All
Date: Sun, 02.01.22 22:13
Re: Why are Pis in such short supply at present?
To: All
Date: Sun, 02.01.22 22:13
Re: Why are Pis in such short supply at present?
From: Theo <theom+news@chiark.greenend.org.uk>
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
> It seems almost impossible to buy a Pi 4 for a reasonable price at the
> moment, why? I know computer hardware is in somewhat short supply but
> other SBCs (such as the Beaglebone) are readily available at normal
> prices so what's happened to the Pi?
I have no inside knowledge, but the Raspberry Pi Foundation have some degree
of control over the fab of their SoCs, either in 40nm (Pis 0-3) or 28nm (Pi
4). What they don't control is the supply of the other parts, notably the
memory chips, the wifi parts (which used to be Broadcom until those were
sold off to Cypress), the USB hub/ethernet chip (Microchip), and general
power supply components.
Through 2021 we've had a lot of sourcing problems with middle-tier parts
from the likes of Microchip, TI, ST, and similar. Not the main processors,
but hit things like voltage regulators, microcontrollers, USB and ethernet
parts.
I don't know what it might be but I suspect something like that is the
problem.
They did say they were going to de-prioritise some models in favour of
others:
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/supply-chain-shortages-and-our-first-ever-price
-increase/
but I'm seeing complete absence across the board at the usual distributors,
so I suppose that ran out of road.
Theo
---
* Origin: rbb.fidonet.fi - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10)
Chris Green <cl@isbd.net> wrote:
> It seems almost impossible to buy a Pi 4 for a reasonable price at the
> moment, why? I know computer hardware is in somewhat short supply but
> other SBCs (such as the Beaglebone) are readily available at normal
> prices so what's happened to the Pi?
I have no inside knowledge, but the Raspberry Pi Foundation have some degree
of control over the fab of their SoCs, either in 40nm (Pis 0-3) or 28nm (Pi
4). What they don't control is the supply of the other parts, notably the
memory chips, the wifi parts (which used to be Broadcom until those were
sold off to Cypress), the USB hub/ethernet chip (Microchip), and general
power supply components.
Through 2021 we've had a lot of sourcing problems with middle-tier parts
from the likes of Microchip, TI, ST, and similar. Not the main processors,
but hit things like voltage regulators, microcontrollers, USB and ethernet
parts.
I don't know what it might be but I suspect something like that is the
problem.
They did say they were going to de-prioritise some models in favour of
others:
https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/supply-chain-shortages-and-our-first-ever-price
-increase/
but I'm seeing complete absence across the board at the usual distributors,
so I suppose that ran out of road.
Theo
---
* Origin: rbb.fidonet.fi - the fidonet nntp junction (2:221/10)