Raspberry Pi Latest Status Update

Greetings all,

We've heard some of your comments that it's been difficult to piece together all of the communications that have been posted here on the Raspberry Pi group. In an effort to clearly communicate to all of you, we will post updates to this blog as they become available.  By using a blog format anyone can review all communications in the order in which they were published - creating a timeline of events.  We hope this is a useful format to all of you.

Regarding today's latest update about compliance testing and impact on deliveries please see below or visit our FAQ.

Thank you,

Nicole, element14 Community Manager

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Q. What’s the latest update? 

A. In recent days there has been a lot of communication about Raspberry Pi, the need for compliance testing and the impact of testing on deliveries.  We recognise the impact on our customers of the constantly changing delivery dates and apologise for the frustration and disappointment this is causing. We commit to advise everyone of accurate delivery dates just as soon as we can but right now, as the Boards undergo compliance testing we are unable to give specific dates.

Over the past weeks, it is clear that customers who have pre-ordered are going to use the Raspberry Pi as a finished product and not just an engineering development board.  For the safety of our customers, we see it as the most responsible approach to ensure that all Pi’s meet the required standards for finished products in their respective country. We are prioritizing the compliance testing process by working closely with the Raspberry Pi foundation and RS Components to make sure there are no more delays.  We take our commitment and responsibility in this area very seriously and believe that while this is a frustrating short-term delay, it’s worth it to ensure our customers receive a fully compliant product.

The current situation is:

• 2000 Raspberry Pi’s are now in the UK. Pictures are posted here for anyone who doubts their existence!
• The compliance teams of element14, RS and Raspberry Pi are working round the clock with the testing houses to assess the product now.  Any issues that are identified (hardware or software) will then need to be rectified and we will ensure this happens as quickly as is humanly possible.
• There are different compliance standards around the globe and we are focused on meeting all of those as quickly as possible, some may take longer than others.
• As soon as these initial 2000 Boards are compliant as required by compliance standards, we will receive our share of this first batch from Raspberry Pi.  We will ship on a first come, first serve basis to countries compiance standards have been met. 
• Regrettably, we cannot give any firm delivery commitments on Raspberry Pi’s until this testing is complete. Please be assured we will provide this information as soon as we can.
• Once the product is fully compliant our manufacturing partners have the necessary stocks of components to ramp up production very quickly, so despite these frustrating, initial delays we are confident the picture will improve and lead times for new orders will reduce.

Our commitment to our customers is to email each customer individually to confirm their personal delivery date as soon as we are able.  We recognise that it is the very specific delivery date that you want. 

Once again, we apologise to all of our customers for this delay in providing the Raspberry Pi’s that you so desperately want.

HOT OFF THE PRESS UPDATE FROM EBEN UPTON OF RASPBERRY PI EARLIER TODAY:

“We have spoken with BIS this morning, and have been told that, given the volumes involved and the demographic mix of likely users, the development board exemption is not applicable to us; as a result, even the first uncased developer units of Raspberry Pi will require a CE mark prior to distribution in the EU...... ....we are working with RS Components and element14/Premier Farnell to bring Raspberry Pi into a compliant state as soon as is humanly possible.”