BBB out of stock ?

I've followed up internally to see what the situation is.

I know you asked about Europe, but for north america, Newark does have stock:

BB-BBLK-000 - CIRCUITCO - DEV BOARD, AM3358/59 ARM MPU, BEAGLEBONE BLACK | Newark element14 US

Product LinkProduct Link

Gerald wrote on the beagleboard mailing list that they are still making them at a good clip so it does seem like BBB sales are going well

Only one left now.. I suspect that after you posted to the list whatever stock Newark had was destined to sell quite quickly

According to the wiki, they've shipped approx 100K in around 9 months ?  Good going, but nothing like RPi scale.  So makes you wonder if it's just a xmas blip, or something more. Certainly seems that circuitco might need to scale up production if it's more than a blip.

There's a comment over on the Olimex blog here http://olimex.wordpress.com/2013/12/09/a10-olinuxino-lime-oshw-linux-computer-developer-edition-is-in-stock/ that suggests they expect sales of 5K per month or 50K per year for the LIME. However I suspect that if they can get it into distributors hands widely then it could easily eclipse the BBB, partly because it'll make a better media player. Assuming of course that the A20-LIME2 they talk about doesn't displace it quickly.

North America availability

I just checked with Newark warehouse and it's out of stock now.  There are about 3,500 coming in January though.  If someone does want to buy BBB from Newark, then I'd advise just place the order now for 65W601665W6016.  You're not charged until it ships and can always cancel if it turns out there actually is no stock.  Like used to happen with the Pi, there may already be many back orders for it, so the full 3,500 may not be available for new orders once in stock.

Also for North America, MicroCenter computer stores stock it in retail and online: http://www.microcenter.com/product/416355/BeagleBone_Black   I love their expanded retail DIY electronics section so don't mind plugging them.  Plus they do buy their BBBs via our sister company, MCM Electronics

BBB market

I've always kind of seen BBB different than RPi.  RPi did well in the mass media with the message of education and media players.   BBB is an order of magnitude smaller but still large enough to have a great community of makers, engineers and kernel hackers.  I hope folks don't get discouraged by directly comparing sales.

As for Olimex, I'm hoping too that we will eventually get stock on the newer OLinuXino's

Drew Fustini wrote:

still large enough to have a great community of makers, engineers and kernel hackers.

I'd agree on the makers and engineers, not so sure about kernel hackers.

I hope folks don't get discouraged by directly comparing sales.

I think they're doing very well form a sales perspective. Unfortunate that demand seems to have outgrown supply right now, but that didn't do the RPi any harm, so who knows..

As for Olimex, I'm hoping too that we will eventually get stock on the newer OLinuXino's

Getting more of the Olimex range would undoubtably be good, but there's a lot of other similar boards that would be nice to see e14/Farnell/Newark carry too. Here in the UK we have a relatively small subset available locally, usually with distorted pricing

Drew Fustini wrote:

 

I hope folks don't get discouraged by directly comparing sales.

It's worth bearing in mind what one is comparing:  BBB sold into the residential market with the required FCC Class B certification, versus Pi sold into the residential market lacking the required FCC Class B certification and hence in violation not only of sales regulations but also of US import laws.  Every Pi sold seems to be stacking up extra legal liability as well as tarnishing Farnell reputation, so greater numbers are worse, not better.

It's not really a joke to say that Pi sales numbers should be quoted as negative, not positive, since they're a liability.  BBB's plus 100k units is then miles ahead of Pi's minus 2m units, for those who care about industrial regulations and the law.  (YMMV)  Note that drug dealers suffer greater penalties the more banned substances they sell --- the same logic applies here, and there is lots of legal precedent.

So no, Beagleboard.org and BBB users should definitely not be discouraged for occupying the moral (and possibly legal) high ground.  We all know who is in the right here, and who is playing fast and loose with regulatory requirements.

Morgaine.

Drew Fustini wrote:

 

I hope folks don't get discouraged by directly comparing sales.

It's worth bearing in mind what one is comparing:  BBB sold into the residential market with the required FCC Class B certification, versus Pi sold into the residential market lacking the required FCC Class B certification and hence in violation not only of sales regulations but also of US import laws.  Every Pi sold seems to be stacking up extra legal liability as well as tarnishing Farnell reputation, so greater numbers are worse, not better.

It's not really a joke to say that Pi sales numbers should be quoted as negative, not positive, since they're a liability.  BBB's plus 100k units is then miles ahead of Pi's minus 2m units, for those who care about industrial regulations and the law.  (YMMV)  Note that drug dealers suffer greater penalties the more banned substances they sell --- the same logic applies here, and there is lots of legal precedent.

So no, Beagleboard.org and BBB users should definitely not be discouraged for occupying the moral (and possibly legal) high ground.  We all know who is in the right here, and who is playing fast and loose with regulatory requirements.

Morgaine.

Maybe we need a table of FCC regulation violation counts rather than of board sales.

Morgaine.