http://www.elinux.org/Beagleboard:BeagleBoneBlack#Board_Shipments
Gerald On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 11:11 AM, Wm Parker Mackenzie < themackenziefam...@gmail.com> wrote: > Thanks. I was under the (mistaken) assumption that all the vendors would > be in the same boat. Just cancelled my Jameco order and have the phone set > to buzz me when Adafruit says my new toy has arrived. > > Kind regards, > Parker Mackenzie > > > On Monday, June 30, 2014 10:23:29 AM UTC-4, Gerald wrote: > >> Then watch Adafruit as they get weekly shipments. Or try >> Special Computing.. >> >> Gerald >> >> >> >> On Mon, Jun 30, 2014 at 8:48 AM, Mackenzie <themacken...@gmail.com> >> wrote: >> >>> I have had a BBB rev C on backorder with Jameco since April 9th. Called >>> them last week and they say it is likely to be mid to late August until it >>> ships. I looked around (Adafruit, Sparkfun, etc...) and they still say out >>> of stock. >>> >>> All I want is 1 for a hobby project, perhaps those ordering 100s-1000s >>> are getting priority? >>> >>> On Sunday, April 13, 2014 7:07:00 PM UTC-4, Jason Kridner wrote: >>> >>>> Just about to post this to http://beagleboard.org/blog, but it >>>> wouldn't hurt to get a bit of community feedback before pushing this >>>> out there.... >>>> >>>> Dude, where's my BeagleBone Black? I hear that question a LOT. No, we >>>> weren't sleeping, but sometimes it takes a minute for a plan to come >>>> together. And don't you love it when a plan comes together? >>>> >>>> Your BeagleBone Black is on the way and below are the whys and hows. >>>> >>>> Buying a BeagleBone Black back around October last year was easy---and >>>> then suddenly they were gone. Having a big launch and then slowing >>>> down to a more steady pace of production is what is normally expected. >>>> Demand was strong, but distributors were showing a small amount of >>>> stock and people were getting their boards on demand. Based on the >>>> status, distributors had requested CircuitCo (the Richardson, Texas >>>> based manufacturer of all official BeagleBoard.org boards) to provide >>>> boards at a certain pace, and production dropped from about 6,000 a >>>> week at launch to around 3,000 a week. >>>> >>>> Then came Radio Shack, filling their stores with Make's Getting >>>> Started with BeagleBone kit. Then the Christmas rush. Then the Georgia >>>> Tech massively open online course on control of mobile robots hosted >>>> on Coursera. We had a couple of small production boosts, but haven't >>>> been able to make any dent in the demand. Everyone is starting to find >>>> out what BeagleBone Black can do, using it in their classes, hobbies, >>>> prototypes---and products. >>>> >>>> When it comes to those people using a BeagleBone Black in an end >>>> product, well, the BeagleBoard.org terms and conditions clearly say we >>>> aren't responsible for the quality in those cases. Nevertheless, the >>>> quality speaks for itself and many people are choosing to simply drop >>>> them into things beyond just a few prototype units. In practice, we'll >>>> never know unless you try to return a bunch of boards at once for >>>> repairs. Our desire is that people using the boards in products work >>>> directly with a contract manufacturer or distributor to enable boards >>>> builds to be planned out in time and with terms and conditions that >>>> won't hurt BeagleBoard.org's ability to supply classrooms, hobbyists >>>> and professionals building prototypes. Still, if distributors show >>>> stock, I expect people building products to continue to chew up some >>>> of the board supply. >>>> >>>> While these people building products are certainly sucking up a lot of >>>> boards, it is clear they aren't the only source of the high demand. >>>> Some of our distribution partners, most notably Adafruit and Special >>>> Computing, put quantity limits of one board per customer on their >>>> orders to help keep supply going to individual makers. I took a look >>>> at Adafruit's website while they were showing some sock and observed >>>> board disappearing at the rate of about 2-3 PER MINUTE. One tweet from >>>> me and they were sold out again. >>>> >>>> This all leads to the obvious conclusion: we need more capacity. To >>>> accomplish this, we are taking a multiple prong approach of increasing >>>> capacity at CircuitCo as well as bringing on an additional >>>> manufacturer. These two prongs are summarized below. >>>> >>>> Prong #1 - Ramping up production at CircuitCo >>>> >>>> Ramping up production costs money. More test equipment is needed. >>>> Orders on various parts must be accelerated. Additional staff must be >>>> hired to run additional shifts. CircuitCo has been fantastic at taking >>>> the risk for us, but the margins for BeagleBone Black aren't the >>>> friendliest for them to take on these additional costs. At initial >>>> launch, it is a benefit for them to get exposed to more customers for >>>> their core business, complex circuit assembly and engineering >>>> services, but shipping more of the exact same board isn't going to >>>> give them a lot more exposure. >>>> >>>> We're really close to shifting the distribution shipped on our boards >>>> from Angstrom Distribution to Debian. Feedback from different people, >>>> especially Adafruit, tells us this will improve usability in the >>>> largest segments of our community. Angstrom Distribution is much more >>>> customizable and is very friendly to professional developers looking >>>> to tweak the most out of the system, but for many novices it >>>> introduces a barrier to learning. Debian is the basis for Ubuntu, >>>> includes ARM Cortex-A8 support in their mainline and is very familiar >>>> to a huge population of developers. It also takes a bit more space on >>>> the flash storage to provide the best user experience. >>>> >>>> To provide the best experience of using Debian on BeagleBone Black, we >>>> are connecting the switch-over to an increase in the on-board eMMC >>>> flash storage from 2GB to 4GB, leaving more free room in which you can >>>> work. The eMMC is faster and more reliable than micro-SD cards, so >>>> this is adding a lot of value---and a little bit of cost. >>>> >>>> These BeagleBone Blacks with Debian and 4GB eMMC will be called Rev C >>>> and they will likely cost a bit more at most distributors. This extra >>>> money is helping CircuitCo pay for the additional expense of the eMMC, >>>> but also to cover costs for ramping production to higher-than-ever >>>> rates. >>>> >>>> With the additional capacity CircuitCo is bringing on, we expect to be >>>> able to fill all end-user back-orders for the Rev B boards by early >>>> May and shift all production to Rev C. With around 150,000 boards on >>>> *distributor* back-orders, we'll be working with distributors to >>>> quickly accept board shipments such that CircuitCo isn't sitting on >>>> any units. >>>> >>>> Come mid-May, you should be able to easily get your hands on a Rev C >>>> board. Some distributors are already taking back-orders for them now. >>>> We'll continue to try to push as many boards as we can through >>>> distributors *not* taking back-orders as well to make sure there is a >>>> continuity of supply. >>>> >>>> Prong #2 - Enabling production of the BeagleBoard Compliant Element14 >>>> BeagleBone Black >>>> >>>> We've launched a BeagleBoard Compliant logo program, >>>> http://beagleboard.org/logo. Element14 is currently the exclusive >>>> licensee of this logo program and has agreed to pay a small royalty to >>>> the BeagleBoard.org Foundation as part of this license. It means that >>>> we've verified they can produce quality clones of BeagleBone Black. It >>>> will be up to them to maintain the quality. As with everything going >>>> on around BeagleBoard.org, we'll be closely monitoring the public >>>> BeagleBoard mailing list, http://beagleboard.org/discuss, for any and >>>> all feedback. >>>> >>>> Element14 is the parent company for Embest, who has been making >>>> BeagleBone Black replicas for the China market since the initial >>>> launch back in April of last year, so they have some experience >>>> already. This move takes them beyond just China and will keep them in >>>> more lock-step with software and hardware revisions coming from >>>> BeagleBoard.org. To satisfy demand, they initially offered some of the >>>> Embest-branded boards in the US market, but you'll see the future >>>> BealgeBoard Compliant boards will be branded as "element14 BeagleBone >>>> Black". >>>> >>>> Element14 has a world-wide reach and a notable production capacity. >>>> With all of the growing demand for BeagleBone Black, they will need >>>> it. I consider this a huge win for open hardware! >>>> >>>> --Jason >>>> >>> -- >>> For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss >>> --- >>> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google >>> Groups "BeagleBoard" group. >>> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send >>> an email to beagleboard...@googlegroups.com. >>> >>> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >>> >> >> -- > For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "BeagleBoard" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to beagleboard+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BeagleBoard" group. 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