Raspberry Pi, a popular single-board computer provider, has announced price increases for its Raspberry Pi 4 and Raspberry Pi 5 models. The adjustments, ranging from $5 to $25 based on the model and RAM capacity, are a response to the escalating memory costs impacting the tech industry. Additionally, the 16GB memory variants of the Compute Module 5 will see a price hike of $20, now starting at $140.
CEO Eben Upton acknowledged the current memory price pressure, attributing it to competition from AI infrastructure expansion. Upton stated that while the price hikes are necessary for now, Raspberry Pi remains committed to providing cost-effective computing solutions and aims to revert the increases once the market stabilizes.
Notably, Raspberry Pi is introducing a new budget-friendly 1GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 5 model for $45. This variant features a quad-core 2.4GHz Arm Cortex-A76 processor, dual-band Wi-Fi support, and a PCI Express port, offering users an affordable computing option.
Other hardware providers, such as CyberPowerPC and Maingear, are also grappling with the RAM price surge, leading to either implemented or anticipated price adjustments to mitigate the impact on their businesses. The RAM supply shortage and heightened demand have forced some retailers to sell RAM at market rates, reminiscent of the GPU price fluctuations earlier this year.
Source: The Verge