I get it that it's not necessary but the ram upgrade from 8 to 16 used to be a $40 splurge, and that was with healthy profits for everyone involved.
And now you pay the old 16GB price for 4GB.
And now you pay the old 16GB price for 4GB.
The cost of 16GB Raspberry Pi is driven by the RAM. Everything else is a small addition to the BOM cost.
The 16GB was introduced when it was affordable. Now it's just becoming a mental obstacle for buyers who think they should only purchase something if they can get the top model. That's why I suggest everyone pretend it doesn't exist. Unless you really need it for something, the 4GB or 8GB can do most things.
Somewhat, but not all of that demand was real; some of it was promised and not followed through on.
Also, supply isn't growing to match, in part because some companies exited the business.
This is not the same stuff an H100 uses, and it’s not even made in the same facilities, is it?
I think it’s more likely that the volume is not large enough to make up for the previously crappy margins on cheap RAM products.
It was great while it lasted.
A workstation user or gamer might want a desktop PC loaded with DDR5. But they'll also consider a desktop with DDR4 or even a laptop with LPDDR4X if they get more for their money.
So a rise in demand/prices for DDR5 can trigger a lesser rise in demand/prices for LPDDR4X
It's a surprise bonanza for the low-end RAM producers. Raise prices substantially with no new investment needed. Some of these factories must have paid for themselves years ago.
If the wafers are the bottleneck, e.g. ASML's god-machines, then yeah, it's annoyingly the same thing.
Yes. Due to the way the RPi board is laid out, they can only support one DRAM chip. And 16 Gb modules are the most expensive ones available, they are the ones that go onto 128Gb and 256Gb sticks.
and also because of the memory cartel.