Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton has confirmed that users shouldn’t expect a new entry in the company’s flagship product line for at least another year.
Making comments in progress interview (opens in a new tab) with Christopher Barnatt, aka ExplainingComputers (via Register (opens in a new tab)), Upton elaborated by saying that 2023 is very much a “year of recovery” from the effects the Covid-19 pandemic has had on global manufacturing and supply chains.
Still, it seemed to dampen hopes for new product launches next year anything but confirmation in November that a new product in the “hundred-series” of all-in-one computers, pioneered by the Raspberry Pi 400, could also be on the way.
Raspberry Pi shortages
Back then, Upton seemed to suggest that the RP2040, the first in-house built Raspberry Pi processor, was well on its way to alleviating parts shortages. Now, however, we should relax our expectations and let the company go before it starts (again) working.
Upton believes it’s technically possible to design, manufacture and ship a new Pi in 2023, but doesn’t believe he should try to do so in case of bigger problems.
“You know what would really be a disaster? If we were trying to launch some Raspberry Pi 5 product and we couldn’t get up to speed [production] actually because of the constraints.”
While he didn’t go into too much technical detail, he noted that “some of the [the supply chain issues] some are for packaging, some are for testability, others are for substrates.”
In November, Upton claimed Pi shortages were expected to decrease “over the course of the year”, and it’s only now becoming clear that these were not just conservative estimates. In a recent interview, he stated that it will probably be until the second half of 2023 before supply chains can resume normal production.