Raspberry Pi's Eben Upton Points to Stock Level Improvements, Predicts Full Availability in Months

YouTuber and educator David Bombal has sat down with Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton to discuss the ongoing stock shortages affecting the popular single-board computer range — and the news is good for those eager to see levels return to normal.

"We've been selling [Raspberry Pis] for a little over 11 years now, and for most of the that time the model we've had for getting your hands on Raspberry Pis [is] we'll put, well, probably maybe half a million Raspberry Pis out there in the channel at any given time," Upton explains during his interview with Bombal. "And whether you're an individual who wants to buy a single unit or an industrial customer who wakes up one day and needs 10,000, 20,000, 50,000 for a product, you can pull that from the channel without really disturbing the inventory that's out there."

The pandemic, though, put paid to that. A combination of factors — factory shutdowns, government-backed furlough schemes, industry-wide shortages of key components, and an increase in demand — meant that Raspberry Pi boards have been hard to find of late. "We've gone from that world to a world where, you know, they're in shortage," Upton admits. "Where hobbyists are having to join queues, you know, either having to monitor very closely to see inventory going out to the channel or join queues at resellers."

Back in December last year Upton suggested that things were soon to change. "We can say with confidence that, after a lean first quarter, we expect supply to recover to pre-pandemic levels in the second quarter of 2023," he claimed at the time, "and to be unlimited in the second half of the year. As we go through the year, it is likely that you’ll see Zero and Zero W come back into general availability first, followed by products like Raspberry Pi 3A+ which do not have an extensive industrial customer base; and, finally, the various versions of Raspberry Pi 4."

Now it's looking like that prediction is coming to pass. In recent weeks stock — while still constrained, and typically limited to one-per-customer at the retail level — has been appearing more frequently and lasting longer before being sold out. "By the time you get into Q3, you'll be in a position where if you want a single unit of any product as an enthusiast, I think you'll be able to get one," Upton told Bombal during the interview.

The full interview, which touches on topics including the Raspberry Pi's origin story and a potential company initial public offering (IPO), is available above or on Bombal's YouTube channel.