Raspberry Pi has increased prices for several single-board computers, effective immediately, due to rising memory costs driven by the AI industry, impacting various models and capacities.
Prices for Raspberry Pi 4 and 5 modules are increasing by $5 to $25, with variations based on the model and RAM capacity. Specifically, the 16GB memory variants of the Compute Module 5 now start at $140, marking a $20 increase. This adjustment reflects the broader impact of the AI sector on memory prices.
CEO Eben Upton addressed the price change in a blog post, stating, “The current pressure on memory prices, driven by competition from the AI infrastructure roll-out, is painful but ultimately temporary.” He further added that the company anticipates “unwinding these price increases once it abates,” suggesting that the current situation is expected to be short-term.
In a related development, Raspberry Pi has announced a new 1GB variant of the Raspberry Pi 5, priced at $45. This model features a quad-core 2.4GHz Arm Cortex-A76 processor, dual-band Wi-Fi, and a PCI Express slot, offering users an additional option within the Raspberry Pi 5 lineup.
The increased demand for RAM by AI companies has had a ripple effect across the industry. CyberPower PC recently confirmed that there would be no holiday sales on memory products due to these price increases, highlighting the widespread impact of the rising memory costs.
