press report favors Farnell

Since the core of RS's problem is that Broadcom can't fulfil orders for the SoC at a sufficient rate, someone should open a new thread requesting that the next major Pi redesign should use an ARM SoC from a different manufacturer.

Let's see how long that thread lasts.

Since the core of RS's problem is that Broadcom can't fulfil orders for the SoC at a sufficient rate, someone should open a new thread requesting that the next major Pi redesign should use an ARM SoC from a different manufacturer.

Let's see how long that thread lasts.

Though, if you were to post that, I'd suggest creating an account specifically for it as you wouldn't be able to login soon after!

Broadcom can't fulfill the orders fast enough?  Do you have a link for that?

I do remember several threads that asked for a different CPU, the answer was always the choice of the broadcom chip (BCM2835?  Something close to that) was merely a matter of choice.  Now you can take that as truth or politic speach, but the threads were left opedened.

mynameisJim wrote:

 

Broadcom can't fulfill the orders fast enough?  Do you have a link for that?

It says so in the article linked in the headline post of this thread, but we've also read mention of it on the RPF forums more than once.  Usually RS gets painted with the finger of "blame" for order mismanagement, but I don't see how the blame lies with RS if they need more BCM2835 devices to deal with their backlog but Broadcom can't supply them at sufficient speed.

Hmm... RS says Broadcom can't fill it fast enough, yet Farnell had no problems, and the Roku is having no problems.  I think Steve is right, it sounds like there's a lead time and RS underestimated the demand for the PI while Farnell did not and is now saying there's a difficulty in getting the chips fast enough.

there was a post by (i think) jamesh over in the RPF forum that I can't find now, saying that it takes at least a couple of months to put an order through the fab depending on capacity and that broadcom didn't build this particular SoC to stock, but only to order.

So you're therefore into a capacity of X allocated to Y customers with a lead time of Z simple maths problem. It could be that Farnell put in a much larger initial order or a better planned (X per month over the next 12 months) and have got current capacity tied up for some time.

With the best will in the world, bringing more capacity online will take time and have costs, plus the actual manufacturing lead time.  Being able to get the device quicker but that multiplying the cost by a factor of five probably isn't going to work in a low margin product like the Pi, so RS may simply have no choice but to wait.

selsinork wrote:

 

there was a post by (i think) jamesh over in the RPF forum that I can't find now, saying that it takes at least a couple of months to put an order through the fab depending on capacity and that broadcom didn't build this particular SoC to stock, but only to order.

The number I've heard is 23 weeks.  Ouch.  That makes planning very difficult and risky.  I suspect Farnell was more willing to gamble on RasPi's success.

You also have the difficulty of finding a cheap but reliable manufacturer for the boards.  Maybe it's just that Farnell was luckier in this respect, or already had better connections.

I suspect Farnell was more willing to gamble on RasPi's success.

I think that was obvious in the way Farnell handled the launch - you could place a real order on day 1 (assuming you could get on the website, or by phone) and they didn't take any money until shipment.

Compared to RS who didn't take orders initially and when they did let you place an order they take the money immediately for something they can't deliver for six months.

Maybe it's just that Farnell was luckier in this respect, or already had better connections.

At least early on, I suspect that both were dealing with the same manufacturer as the RPF used. However I'm certainly unclear as to what the relationship is between the RPF, the actual manufacturer, RS and Farnell.  You see various things where RS & Farnell are referred to as 'licensed manufacturers' but others where they're demoted to merely 'distributors'. Yet when the move to UK manufacturing is announced there's little or no sign of either RS or Farnell and it's all about the RPF setting up the deal.

The RPF always seem to disown any problems and point at RS but if, as sometimes appears, they're actually sitting in the middle brokering the relationships between RS/Farnell and the manufacturer then that raises other questions.

We'll never get to know the exact reasons why it's turned out the way it has, and I suspect there's enough blame to go round anyway. However it is interesting to see the problems start to get discussed in a wider context and on sites outside the couple of directly involved forums.