Remote-Url: https://www.raspberrypi.com/news/supply-chain-shortages-and-our-first-ever-price-increase/ Retrieved-at: 2021-10-21 19:47:21.641200+00:00 [ ] • For Industry • Hardware • Software • Documentation • News • Forums • Foundation News All news • Archive • RSS Supply chain, shortages, and our first-ever price increase [Eben-U] • 20th Oct 2021 • Eben Upton • 40 comments As many of you know, global supply chains are in a state of flux as we (hopefully) emerge from the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. In our own industry, semiconductors are in high demand, and in short supply: the upsurge of demand for electronic products for home working and entertainment during the pandemic has descended into panic buying, as companies try to secure the components that they need to build their products. [raspberrypi4-hero2-500x333] At Raspberry Pi, we are not immune to this. Our own commercial team, our licensees, and our partners at Sony have done a great job keeping components coming in the door and products going out. But despite significantly increased demand, we’ll only end up making around seven million units in 2021: pretty much exactly what we did in 2020. The result has been a shortage of some products, notably Raspberry Pi Zero and the 2GB variant of Raspberry Pi 4. We’re now expecting our supply chain challenges to continue through much of 2022. These challenges will fall most heavily on our older products, built on 40nm silicon: in practice, anything that isn’t a Raspberry Pi 4, Raspberry Pi 400, or Compute Module 4. With this in mind, we’re making several changes to help our customers, many of whom are buying Raspberry Pis to power their businesses, navigate the next twelve months. 2GB Raspberry Pi 4 temporarily moves back to $45 In February last year, we announced that we were discontinuing the 1GB variant of Raspberry Pi 4, and moving the 2GB product to our signature price of $35. We’re still glad we did this, as countless young people made use of this device as they studied from home during the pandemic. Unfortunately, cost increases caused by the current shortage mean that this product is not currently economically viable at this reduced price point. We are therefore moving it back to $45 on a temporary basis. 1GB Raspberry Pi 4 makes a comeback To support the many industrial customers who have designed the 2GB variant of Raspberry Pi 4 into their products, we are reintroducing the 1GB variant at the $35 price point. This provides a degree of choice: less memory at the same price; or the same memory at a higher price. Guidance for Raspberry Pi 3B+ users In allocating our limited stocks of 40nm silicon, we will prioritise Compute Module 3, Compute Module 3+, and Raspberry Pi 3B, and deprioritise Raspberry Pi 3B+. Users of Compute Modules will of course have made investments in carrier board designs and inventory. Raspberry Pi 3B has a single-band radio, without a shield can; many industrial users will have made significant investments in compliance testing. In contrast, Raspberry Pi 3B+ uses the same wireless chipset as Raspberry Pi 4, with the same FCC modular certification; we expect this similarity to translate into a lower migration cost. Our guidance to industrial and embedded users of Raspberry Pi 3B+ who wish to optimise availability in 2022 is to begin migrating your designs to the 1GB variant of Raspberry Pi 4. This is all temporary None of these are palatable decisions. In the entire history of Raspberry Pi, we have never increased the price of a product, and have often been able to reduce prices between, and sometimes within, generations. Likewise, long-term availability of our products, from stock, is a core part of our value proposition to industrial customers. But this set of temporary changes is the best way we can see to support all our customers through these strange times. The good news is that we’ve been able to hold the line on pricing for all but one of our products; that we expect to have enough 28nm silicon over the next twelve months to support both our existing Raspberry Pi 4 and Compute Module 4 customers, and customers migrating from Raspberry Pi 3B+; and that we see early signs that the supply chain situation is starting to ease. These changes in pricing are not here to stay. As global supply chain issues moderate, we’ll keep revisiting this issue, and we want to get pricing back to where it was as fast as we can. We’re committed to supporting all of you who have chosen to build your products around our platform. Thank you for sticking with us: by working together, I’m confident we’ll get through the next twelve months in good shape. Share this post • Post to Twitter • Post to Facebook • Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Related posts [rev2crop] Made in the UK! [2012-09-21] Factory pictures from South Wales [IMG_8026-1] Recycle your old Raspberry Pi boards with OKdo Next Post [Raspberry-] Control LEGO® from your Raspberry Pi | HackSpace #48 Previous Post [Raspberry-] Meet the Raspberry Pi Build HAT: create with Raspberry Pi and LEGO® Education Share this post • Post to Twitter • Post to Facebook 40 comments Jump to the comment form Avatar Dan 20th October 2021, 10:35 am Thanks for these insights and keep up the good work! Reply to Dan Avatar na 20th October 2021, 11:40 am Eben, can you please then extend planned avialability for Zero’s of all sort a couple years longer? Because for now them absolutely impossible to get and often hard to replace. Pico may be significant underpower in terms of software (full Linux OS vs bare metal apps) and sometimes CPU speed/RAM size too. And higher Pi’s may be basicly overkill for simple tasks. – Cheers! Reply to na Avatar Ozz 20th October 2021, 11:54 am Thanks for the frank and detailed update. You do an awesome job and I can’t wait to see what future miracles you guys perform. Reply to Ozz Avatar Neil 20th October 2021, 11:54 am Well done for clear comms on what is an unpalatable but wise set of decisions. Thinking ahead, would be great to see an updated Pi Zero with somewhat comparable silicon to Pi 4 (but with the inevitable compromises necessary for the form factor) Reply to Neil Avatar Jeff 20th October 2021, 12:19 pm Why not bring out some good news like releasing the Pi 5?? Reply to Jeff Avatar Really? 20th October 2021, 2:17 pm Really Jeff? How on earth do you expect them to release the Raspberry Pi 5 when they are obviously struggling to keep up with current demand due to a global silicon shortage? I’d love to know. Thanks for the update and transparency Eben, it’s greatly appreciated. Reply to Really? Avatar Jenkins 21st October 2021, 12:26 am The shortage is related to compounding over-ordering by hysterical companies that rely on specific, already known/usually available components. That sort of demand will eventually drop like a rock. There could be mechanisms put in place to stop this, but none of that really matters… What are the specific, already known components that will power the Raspberry Pi 5? Whatever that happens to be, perhaps everything to build it doesn’t rely that heavily on current semiconductor supply chains….(?) For instance, what if the Raspberry Pi 5 is a credit card size, room temperature, universal Quantum Computing technology that relies on completely different materials than what are currently being stressed…? Like Borates for example…no one’s going nuts over Boron right now! Or, …how about Mercury amalgams? Not a lot of love for Mercury for a while now; maybe it’s coming back?! & I haven’t seen many vacuum tubes used in computing lately…? Maybe they’re due for some miniaturization & a complete comeback… Who knows..? What I do know, however, is that a little forward thinking, maybe a bit lateral too, a little extra effort, & the will to make it happen, …can, indeed, make it happen. And maybe that Raspberry Pi 5 is being mass produced right this very moment! On the other hand, the will to make it happen can also just end in catastrophic failure… It really is hard to say either way… but I’d give it a solid 50:50 chance there’s a spectacular success taking form in the background & headed for delivery on a shorter-term than you might think! Reply to Jenkins Avatar AkulaMD 21st October 2021, 3:23 am To be fair Eben did said this about older product using 40nm manufacturing process: “These challenges will fall most heavily on our older products, built on 40nm silicon” While in the same blog post he said this about model using 28nm chips: “we expect to have enough 28nm silicon over the next twelve months to support both our existing Raspberry Pi 4 and Compute Module 4 customers, and customers migrating from Raspberry Pi 3B+” As RP5 will use 28nm manufacturing process or better, then the supply would not be as constrained as the older 40nm ones. Reply to AkulaMD Avatar Altrux 20th October 2021, 2:22 pm I’m guessing the focus isn’t on a next-gen product in the current climate! Who knows, but I imagine we’ll see a Pi 5 further in the future, once the silicon crunch is over and they can get hold of a better chip on a smaller process node but maintain the same price points as the current Pi 4. Just speculating, but that’s my take on it! Reply to Altrux Avatar Hike 20th October 2021, 6:43 pm I hope they bring out the pi 5 soon! Reply to Hike Avatar Mayfin 20th October 2021, 3:00 pm Strange comment, asking for more at a time of shortage when less is available … Personally, the *last* thing I want right now would be a Pi5 anyway. I think that needs to wait till availability of next process node to bring the power and thermal requirements down (I think the Pi4 is already a step too far in this respect, and I’d love to see the design goals for future model to keep the power and thermal needs down lower than the Pi4). If we’re dreaming of products for 12 months time, to celebrate hopefully the end of scarcity, then what I’d like is some new higher spec Pi Zeros (including one with a DSI port), and a Pi40 (the Pi400 motherboard in a plain stackable and rackable box, without the keyboard). Reply to Mayfin Avatar W. H. Heydt 20th October 2021, 4:38 pm I agree about hoping to constrain thermal issues going forward, though that will be extremely difficult to do will still having ever improving performance. That’s a big part of why I like Pi2Bs. No need to worry about keeping cool. As for your wish list for an updated Pi0… DSI connector runs directly into the board real estate issue: the PCB would have to be bigger. A faster processor (lets not even think about a Pi4-class SoC) runs into the problem of…where are you going to find one? Pi0–to maintain the form factor–relies on PoP DRAM. That constrains both the SoC package size and that of the chip within it. As for what an updated Pi0 should look like… I’d suggest a modestly faster (say Cortex-A53 at the same 1GHz), with either one or two cores. Could drop the node to 28nm to keep the die small enough (and hold down on thermal issues) to be able to support PoP DRAM. I don’t expect to see such a beast any time in the foreseeable future, in part because who would order such a chip so the price would be low enough to fit the Pi0 budget? Reply to W. H. Heydt Avatar Mayfin 20th October 2021, 5:19 pm Regarding increasing performance while reducing power/thermals … that’s why I said the Pi5 ought to wait until there’s manufacturing capacity available at the next process node. A new BCM processor on 20/22 nm would be ideal for a Pi 5. As for DSI on a Pi Zero-class board – you’re absolutely right there isn’t the board real-estate for both DSI and CSI. I’d like to see two models – one with CSI for camera applications, and one with DSI for display uses. (And for a processor – an underclocked BCM 2837, as on the 2Bv1.2 perhaps ?) But anyway, these are all dreams for 12 months+ ahead. For now, good luck and best wishes for the Pi team in navigating the road ahead Reply to Mayfin Avatar Andy 20th October 2021, 6:28 pm Given the design of Pi 5 is probably already finished, with work happening on 6, and the chip shortage is going to last a year, we may not see a 5 at all! Reply to Andy Avatar Bitpaint 20th October 2021, 2:21 pm This is not temporary. You can’t fight against money printing. Reply to Bitpaint Avatar Jeff Geerling 20th October 2021, 2:22 pm It’s disappointing, but understandable. I hope the parts shortage eases sooner than we expect, because even with the adjustments, it will probably be a while before stocks are good for many of the products, especially the Zero (which often has “zero” in stock now!). I thought I’d be less affected having a Micro Center nearby, but even they have been out of Pi 4s in any variety for a few weeks now :( Reply to Jeff Geerling Avatar Lewis Cowles 20th October 2021, 6:26 pm Stop Red-shirt Jeff from chopping any more IO. ;-) Reply to Lewis Cowles Avatar Lester Balladares 20th October 2021, 2:48 pm Thank you for the information. Reply to Lester Balladares Avatar Paul Miilligan 20th October 2021, 4:22 pm I wondered when the semiconductor industry shortages would effect the Raspberry Pi. For several years we’ve expected inexorable progress – and I was wondering when we’d have a 22nm processor! It’s only recently that we’ve been told how much the Auto Industry relies on ‘old nodes’ and that 28nm is going to be mainstream for some years to come. The price strategy seems sensible given the circumstances. My sadness is that fewer young enthusiasts might get the Pi bug as it’s definitely the natural successor to Sinclair and the BBC micro. Reply to Paul Miilligan Avatar jamesh 21st October 2021, 9:35 am Don’t forget, we still have the 1GB Pi4 at the $35 price point, so there is still the entry level option for those with limited budgets. Its only the 2GB device that has gone up in price (back to where it was originally) Reply to jamesh Avatar W. H. Heydt 20th October 2021, 4:30 pm Sorry to hear about the need, but no especially surprising. Good that you’re willing to be open about what’s going on and communicate (clearly) both action and intent. Not many companies do that. I suppose this also means that Pi2Bv1.2 boards will be pretty much non-existent until some time in 2023. Reply to W. H. Heydt Avatar Marco Maldonado 20th October 2021, 5:05 pm for many years I would go to micro center and buy very affordable raspberry pi zeros , and raspberry pi 3a+ devices. I have enough stock at home to keep experimenting and learning. I feel bad for the kids that right now are trying to find a raspberry pi and can’t find it. Hopefully next year things will get better and raspberry devices can be found again at affordable prices. Thank you for all your hard work and everyone working on this computing platform. We appreciate the update and transparency. Reply to Marco Maldonado Avatar Lewis Cowles 20th October 2021, 6:24 pm You’re so far below most price points, it feels like a self-imposed hardship to keep to the old prices. I Paid £100 for my Nvidia Jetson nano’s and I feel like raspberry Pi shipped a superior kit in my Pi’s 1-4, including zero. Nvidia shipped broken trash where I had to compile my own kernel to use the thing according to their docs. You’re all doing fantastic work. Reply to Lewis Cowles Avatar Frank Earl 20th October 2021, 10:07 pm Well there WAS reasons for Linus flying a birdie and dropping an F-bomb NVidia’s way… Reply to Frank Earl Avatar Hike 20th October 2021, 6:42 pm Hi, Thank you for this report. When are you bringing out the raspberry pi 5? Reply to Hike Avatar jamesh 21st October 2021, 9:38 am Raspberry Pi never announce new product like that in advance. And why ask on what is clearly a thread about something completely different? It doesn’t make any future Pi5 appear any faster! Reply to jamesh Avatar Alex 20th October 2021, 8:53 pm How about fixing the firmware bug on the 3b+ and 3 wifi chip? Just like the 4, the 3 suffers from random disconnects and firmware crashes. Reply to Alex Avatar toto 20th October 2021, 8:55 pm Hi, where can I buy some CM4 ? It is out of stock here in europe for more than 6 month … Reply to toto Avatar Graham 20th October 2021, 9:28 pm They are in stock at welectron, I have cm4 arriving from them tomorrow. Reply to Graham Avatar Anders 21st October 2021, 1:45 am I see Danish reseller Jkollerup.dk has some stock as well. Reply to Anders Avatar Frank Earl 20th October 2021, 10:06 pm Thank you for the honest explanation of all of this. If we can lay hands on the 1GB 4B’s easily enough, it’s rather a win if you pause to think. And as long as we can still fairly easily lay hands on the 4GB and 8GB configurations of 4B and CM4 units, this is still more than acceptible. Reply to Frank Earl Avatar Joseph Tannenbaum 20th October 2021, 10:40 pm Found this out, 3b+ backordered to Feb 2022! :-( Reply to Joseph Tannenbaum Avatar private 21st October 2021, 1:17 am Introducing our first ever customer purchasing decrease Reply to private Avatar Gerry 21st October 2021, 6:10 am Do you have a timeline when compute modules 3B+ will be available again? Reply to Gerry Avatar Frank the german 21st October 2021, 8:16 am The first time ever that i even read a public statement like this. Thank you for the communication and the insight. You’re doing great work! Reply to Frank the german Avatar Richard Williams 21st October 2021, 11:16 am We are one of the companies that has invested in a custom carrier board for the CM3, and so we very much appreciate your focus on getting more CM3 stock available. Do you have any updates on when you might expect more CM3 stock to arrive? Reply to Richard Williams Avatar Jimbo 21st October 2021, 1:50 pm No idea if it would help but you could try emailing info@raspberrypi.com Reply to Jimbo Avatar Raspberry Pi Staff Liz Upton 21st October 2021, 2:15 pm Hi Richard – I just passed this on to the commercial team. Someone will email you later this afternoon. :) Reply to Liz Upton Avatar Eduardo Moreno 21st October 2021, 2:28 pm Cheer up. We love you. Reply to Eduardo Moreno Avatar Noxi 21st October 2021, 3:49 pm Solution: Release a Pi Zero with new 28nm CPU :) Reply to Noxi Leave a Comment Name (Required) [ ] Email address (also required) [ ] Website URL [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Your comment (required) [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] Δ[ ] Submit Follow us • Sign up to newsletter • Twitter • Facebook • YouTube • Instagram • LinkedIn About Raspberry Pi • News • Contact us • Trademark • About us • Accessibility • Cookies • Licensing • Terms and conditions of sale • Privacy • Security For Industry • Raspberry Pi For Industry • Powered by Raspberry Pi • Design Partners Hardware • Computers and microcontrollers • Cameras and displays • Add-on boards • Power supplies and cables • Cases • Peripherals Software • Raspberry Pi OS • Raspberry Pi Imager • Raspberry Pi Desktop Documentation • All categories • Product information portal • Datasheets Forums • All forums Raspberry Pi Store • Cambridge Store Raspberry Pi Press • About Raspberry Pi Press • The MagPi • HackSpace • Wireframe • Custom PC