Pine64 Halts Production of Linux Devices

On Mastodon, Pine64 announced "there isn't any plans to continue producing more Linux devices in the near future. Whether production continues or not depends on the pricing situation for those components after mid 2027."

Pine64 is best known for producing open hardware, such as phones, tablets, and single-board computers. It has also recently diversified into soldering irons and power supplies. This recent announcement was driven by the AI bubble driving the cost of hardware beyond reach for smaller market companies.

The company's PineNote and PineTab2 have been estimated to run out of stock in about three months, while the PineTime, PineVoice, and Pinecil will continue production. The post also had information about the PineTime Pro, stating that, "currently the demo firmware has basic drivers for the display, touch, motion, GPS, buttons, heat rate sensor (chip id only), battery charger, motor, microphone, and the speaker. Though some issues do need to be ironed out first before a pilot batch begins production."

For those who aren't aware, the PineTime Pro is a smart watch that will include Bluetooth 5.2, a 410×502 AMOLED display with touch support, a digital crown that also acts as an extra button, GPS, a heart rate sensor with blood oxygen measurement capability, an accelerometer with full 6D Inertial Measurement Unit, an I²C battery charger, external QSPI 8MB flash memory, a microphone and speaker, a vibration motor, and a 4-pin connector for power and debug/programming, with configurable pins for serial output or SWD.

Pine64 went on to mention that "it's a bit bleak for the Linux devices," but they did not expound on that.