Is Raspberry Pi Dead? I Don’t Think So
Lots of people are saying “Raspberry Pi is dead” on social media or Reddit. If you spend some time there, you’ll quickly get the feeling that Raspberry Pis are a relic of the past, no longer relevant for various reasons. I get why they might think that, but I’m not fully on board with that idea.
The Raspberry Pi is no longer the cheap computer it once was. Prices have increased a lot, availability has had some rough periods in the last few years, and mini-PCs are becoming more competitive.
And if all you want is a “cheap computer”, then I get it: Raspberry Pi has obviously lost a lot of its advantage. Yeah, prices have definitely gone up a lot because of the RAM shortage, but all devices using RAM have seen similar price hikes.
Anyway, I feel like arguing that the whole Raspberry Pi project is dead just because of the current hardware prices is missing the point.
First, sales are still up year over year, even after the price increase, so it’s hard to say that the Raspberry Pi world is dying.
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But more importantly, the Raspberry Pi’s main value proposition has never been about just the hardware.
Many competitors have tried to build Raspberry Pi-like alternatives, without much success. We need to think of Raspberry Pi as a platform, a whole ecosystem with hardware, software, online resources, a giant community, and a clear mission. Nobody can compete with this currently.
You can buy a faster board for the same price, but that doesn’t mean you’ll get the same software support, accessories, documentation, tutorials, and community around it.
Raspberry Pi has also expanded and upgraded its product lineup to appeal to a wider audience:
- The whole AI market with HAT, kit, and camera, as well as new applications (like Google LiteRT support).
- New product categories like the Pico microcontrollers, Pi 400/500 keyboard computers, or even official accessories (USB sticks, SDs, SSDs, monitors, etc.)
- The compute module range is also worth mentioning here. It’s not a new series, but they still work actively on it to integrate more and more commercial and industrial products.
- And also new technical add-ons such as PCIe and NVMe support.
I’m not even talking about the software aspect, with Raspberry Pi OS and Imager getting regular updates, and many behind-the-scenes projects going on.
Pretty active for a “dying” company, right?
The price increase might have put some hobbyists off in the last few months, but Raspberry Pi is still growing thanks to their industrial customers (who account for about two-thirds of their sales). So, don’t worry: they’re here to stay.
Hopefully, prices will come back down as the RAM market improves. But even if Raspberry Pi never becomes the obvious cheap computer again, the platform around it isn’t going anywhere. And that’s why I don’t think Raspberry Pi is dead.
If you want to get started without spending too much money, I suggest you look here for the current setup I recommend. And if you already have your Raspberry Pi, there are plenty of projects you can build while waiting for a better time to invest in the latest models. Get my project finder here :-).
