Raspberry Pi

U.S. consumers unable to grab a $25 slice of Raspberry Pi yesterday are now out of luck.

The so-dubbed Linux PC on a stick hit the U.S. market yesterday morning. Both the $25 Model A and the $35 Model B versions are listed by U.S. retailer Allied Electronics. But the $25 flavor of Raspberry Pi has already flown off the virtual shelves.

Trying to purchase Model A today triggers a message that says that "this item is out of stock and may not be backordered. Please remove to continue."

Model B is still up for sale but it's back-ordered, and buyers may have to wait as long as six weeks before it arrives at their door. As of now, Allied Electronics and Newark are the only two U.S. retailers to have an exclusive agreement to sell the Pi. However, only Allied has the Model A version.

A second level of distributors are also buying Raspberry Pi PCs from Allied and Newark for resale. Those distributors include Adafruit, Sparkfun Electronics, and MAKE, among others.

How long until new Model A versions pop up at Allied?

A Raspberry Pi representative told CNET she believes Allied has some Model A stock at the global level. But the availability in the U.S. will depend in part on how the retailer distributes its supply. Raspberry Pi is building Model A units at some thousands per week, so the rep expects new units to appear in the next couple of weeks.

The $25 Model A version is considered the "budget" edition, offering just 256 megabytes of RAM, one USB 2.0 socket, and no Ethernet port. The $35 Model B version beefs up the specs with 512MB of RAM, two USB 2.0 sockets, and Ethernet ports.

Model A of the Raspberry Pi launched in Asia late last month following its February debut in Europe. The $25 variant generated heavy demand in late February at two U.K. retailers. Supply seems to have caught up since then, at least at one of the retailers.

RS Components shows both Model A and Model B as in stock and available. Fellow U.K. retailer Farnell shows Model A as out of stock and Model B with a three-week wait time.

Raspberry Pi is a credit-card-size computer, or actually computer board, that can plug into a TV or monitor.

Equipped with an ARM processor, the Pi was originally aimed at children looking to program and hobbyists looking to tinker around. But the small PC seems to have aroused interest among other types of consumers as it can run full games and applications and play HD videos when connected to an external display.

(Via Parity News)

Updated 11:55 a.m. PT with further details from Raspberry Pi rep.