James Harris  wrote:
> Incidentally, I never expected the Pi 4's 2GB version to sell well,
> thinking that people would either choose the 1GB or the 4GB. So it's
> interesting to see the Foundation drop the price of the 2GB to match
> that of the 1GB. Prices are now
>
> 1GB $35
> 2GB $35
> 4GB $55

The reason for this is a bit tortuous.  The Pis are actually produced by
two entirely different supply chains:

Most Pis are produced by the big distributors - Electrocomponents
(RS/Allied), Premier Farnell, etc.  They take out a licence from the
Raspberry Pi Foundation and contract out manufacturing to Sony in Wales.

The Pi Zero and the Pi 4 1GB are produced by the Raspberry Pi foundation
themselves - they contract manufacturing out with Sony directly, cutting out
the distributors.  They then sell them on to their own supply chain (Pi Hut,
Pimoroni, Microcenter, etc).  This allows them to be lower margin products
than having a major distributor in the loop.  They're produced on the same
lines -
when the lines aren't so busy producing for distributors the RPF takes up the
slack and builds some Zeroes and 1GB Pi 4s.


Unfortunately the lines have been working flat out producing 2GB and
(mostly) 4GB Pi 4, so there hasn't been any slack to make 1GB versions for
the RPF (or the Pi Zero).  This means they've been out of stock for a long
time.

So I think the announcement means the RPF have managed to get costs down
on the 2GB version enough to sell it at $35 through the usual distribution
channels.  And so they don't need to advertise a version that depends on
slack on a line that's currently full and so you can't actually buy.

I'm not sure what this means for the Pi Zero - whether it will free up some
capacity to make more, or if there's a replacement in the offing.

(The package of the BCM2835 chip of the original Pi 1 is more amenable to
the form factor of the Zero than later BCM2836, BCM2837 or BCM2711 so
upgrading the Pi Zero isn't straightforward)

Theo

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