From PC World: RAM prices are going up. That’s been the news for months and months, and it’s affecting almost every aspect of consumer electronics, from the most powerful graphics cards to the cheapest hobby machines. The beloved Raspberry Pi is getting its second price hike in two months, thanks to RAM shortages driven by “AI” demand.
Exactly two months ago, the Raspberry Pi Foundation had to bump up the prices of various Pi 4 and Pi 5 computers by $5-25. The sorry state of pricing caused the company to release a new, more affordable model starting at $45 USD, but with just one gigabyte of DDR4 memory. That model is also the only one that’s spared from the latest increases: A further $10 price bump for 2GB models, $15 for 4GB, $30 for 8GB, and a whopping $60 for Pi models with16GB of memory.
This includes the keyboard-packing Raspberry Pi 500 and 500+ designs. Fortunately the Pi Zero, Pi 3, and “other older products” are staying the same price, thanks to older devices using older memory that’s been stockpiled.
Raspberry Pi isn’t the only builder-focused company that’s been forced to raise prices due to the AI RAM crunch. Framework has had to raise the price of RAM modules multiple times. Nvidia appears to be cutting production of at least some consumer-grade graphics cards (though it’s in damage control on exactly how that’ll shake out), prioritizing data center-focused chip and memory production. Prices are shooting through the roof, and partners like Zotac are evidently sweating.
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