Two questions:
When (if ever) do you see the Raspberry Pi market returning to MSRP equilibrium on Amazon?
Now that RISC-V boards are becoming more common, do you foresee that technology eclipsing the Pi, or even the Pi 5 switching from ARM to RISC-V?
I think it will take a while, the Amazon marketplace has always price gouged the Raspberry Pi trying to push people to bundles, usually you can get a better deal through Arrow or Adafruit when they have them in stock.
I don't think so, there is a lot of compatibility issues to deal with, the Pi has really good support right now compared to compeitors and it's largest selling point compared to just getting a knock off. Maybe Pi 6 or 7, but I doubt it for the Pi 5. The Pi 5 isn't coming soon either, probably 2024 or 2025.
I was OK with buying a bundle for my first board, but yeah, just getting the second on its own was a challenge even before the COVID chaos and bundle seller buy-up. I do like the community hub approach they take. It's like Apple, but without the walled garden nonsense. And I doubt the ARM license fee is a significant hurdle to warrant switching away soon.
ARM licensing fee is based on the features you use too. I can't imagine they are paying that much especially seeing as they are considered a Charity in the UK.