Still can’t buy a Raspberry Pi board? Things aren’t getting better any time soon

Shortages for lots of tech components, including things like DDR5 and GPUs, have eased quite a bit since the beginning of 2022, and prices have managed to go down as availability improves. But that reprieve hasn’t come for hobbyists hoping to get a Raspberry Pi, which remains as hard to buy today as it was a year ago.

The most recent update on the situation comes from Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton via YouTuber Jeff Geerling—Upton told Geerling that Pi boards are subject to the same supply constraints as they were in April, the last time he wrote a post about the situation. Around 400,000 Pi boards are being produced per month, and some of these are being earmarked to be sent out to consumer retail sites. But Upton says that most of these are still being reserved for and sold to commercial customers who rely on Pi boards to run their businesses.

In short, the update is that there is no update. Upton said in April (and nearly a year ago, when the company raised the price for a Pi board for the first time) that the Broadcom processors at the heart of older Pi boards have been particularly difficult to source but that high demand had been just as big of an issue. Demand for Pi boards increased during the pandemic, and there was no more manufacturing capacity available to meet this demand. Upton said a year ago that there were “early signs that the supply chain situation is starting to ease,” but backed-up demand could still explain the short supply even if the Pi’s components have gotten easier to buy.

If you’re trying to buy a Raspberry Pi in the US or other regions, the rpilocator spreadsheet can be a valuable resource, letting you know when various models are in stock for ordering at most common Pi retailers. According to the tracker, few Pi 4 boards of any stripe were available to buy through September, though, and if you’re looking for a specific RAM capacity, you will be stuck waiting even longer. Businesses that want to inquire about buying Pis are still encouraged to contact the business@raspberrypi.com email address to make their case.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1886515