3 ms·

I wonder if we'll ever be able to buy a Pi again. They've been out of stock everywhere since forever. You can get them now, if one or more of a few things is t

I wonder if we'll ever be able to buy a Pi again. They've been out of stock everywhere since forever. You can get them now, if one or more of a few things is true: 1. You're willing to pay exorbitant scalper prices. In that case, just head over to Ali-Express and you can pick up a Pi with no problem. 2. You're very patient and willing to watch rpilocator[1] a lot in order to score a Pi. I do that and managed to score one more 8GB model during a 24 hour (or so) long window when Elektor had some in stock last week. Just keep checking, they pop up here and there. 3. You live near a Microcenter store. Apparently they get stock in every now and then as well. Sadly that only benefits the people who live near by. A group which I can't count myself among. sigh I'm starting to consider it a dead platform and looking at different hardware (example Odroid.) Things are going to get better eventually. That's very close to 100% certain. Pi's aren't in short supply because of anything the RPi folks are doing wrong, it's down to the global chip shortage that's affecting just about everything.[2][3] But the bullwhip effect will almost certainly play out, like it always does and at some point there will be glut of all the chips that are in short supply today and probably a glut of Raspberry Pi's as well. The only issue is predicting when that will happen. [1]: https://rpilocator.com/ https://rpilocator.com/ [2]: https://www.yahoo.com/now/chipageddon-could-last-until-2023-132341226.html https://www.yahoo.com/now/chipageddon-could-last-until-2023-... [3]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%93present_global_chip_shortage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020%E2%80%93present_global_ch...

ninjagoo 4y ago
> Pi's aren't in short supply because of anything the RPi folks are doing wrong, it's down to the global chip shortage that's affecting just about everything Aren't the RPI leaders on record saying that the vast bulk of RPI production is being allocated to commercial entities instead of retail? It would be interesting to see data on the # of RPIs being manufactured (over time - to see impact and recovery from Covid), and contrast it with retail availability.
- rcarmo 4y ago
  Nope. There was a press release about the focus on getting enough Compute Modules out to satisfy commercial demand for some SKUs, but they didn't say how much it was impacting other models (and the BOM isn't exactly the same across SKUs, so it's hard to tell). Eben Upton did mention on Twitter that it was good they got out the Pico W, since it might tide over hobbyists until the crunch lifts, but I can't find that tweet right now.
- mindcrime 4y ago
  They announced something like that, but I don't recall all the details. But still, that doesn't change anything. The ultimate cause of the Pi shortage is the overall chip shortage. How they choose to allocate the ones they do make is a decision that one can quibble over, but it's not the root cause of anything. And honestly, considering their stated justification (sending parts to places where jobs are on the line, etc.) it makes sense. I'd probably do the same thing.

ninjagoo 4y ago

> Pi's aren't in short supply because of anything the RPi folks are doing wrong, it's down to the global chip shortage that's affecting just about everything Aren't the RPI leaders on record saying that the vast bulk of RPI production is being allocated to commercial entities instead of retail? It would be interesting to see data on the # of RPIs being manufactured (over time - to see impact and recovery from Covid), and contrast it with retail availability.

rcarmo 4y ago
Nope. There was a press release about the focus on getting enough Compute Modules out to satisfy commercial demand for some SKUs, but they didn't say how much it was impacting other models (and the BOM isn't exactly the same across SKUs, so it's hard to tell). Eben Upton did mention on Twitter that it was good they got out the Pico W, since it might tide over hobbyists until the crunch lifts, but I can't find that tweet right now.
mindcrime 4y ago
They announced something like that, but I don't recall all the details. But still, that doesn't change anything. The ultimate cause of the Pi shortage is the overall chip shortage. How they choose to allocate the ones they do make is a decision that one can quibble over, but it's not the root cause of anything. And honestly, considering their stated justification (sending parts to places where jobs are on the line, etc.) it makes sense. I'd probably do the same thing.