Raspberry Pi: Micro PC Launch Date Slips to February 20

Pocket sized PC maker Raspberry announced today their flagship Raspberry Pi microcomputer will launch later than expected due to component supply problems.

In a statement, Raspberry said that due to moving their manufacturing overseas, they were having trouble sourcing a quartz crystal for the sub $35 computer.

The British manufacturer apologized for moving construction of the much anticipated PC overseas, citing difficulties with local manufacturers.

Raspberry said: The bad news is that it's taking a little longer than we'd hoped, because the factory had some trouble sourcing a specific component.

The quartz crystal package we had chosen when we thought we were manufacturing in the UK is readily available over here in Europe, and was the cheapest we could find; but it turns out that in China, that crystal package has been overtaken in price and size by a smaller, cheaper one, so the one we'd designed for has been a bit hard to find.

The factory has sourced crystals now, so we're all go. The good news is that this finally means we have a date for the first batch: the boards will be finished on February 20.

Hype surrounding the low cost PC has grown steadily since it was first announced, with the device capable of handling 1080p HD video playback and rumours it will be to run popular media software XMBC.