Millionth Raspberry Pi made in UK
1 min read
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has announced that a million of its low cost, credit card sized computers have now been made in the UK.
After launching to great fanfare in February last year, the first Raspberry Pis were made in China. In September 2012, however, the Foundation started moving manufacture to a plant owned by Sony in South Wales.
Gradually, both of its manufacturing partners, RS Components and Premier Farnell, reshored all production to that factory, and for the past few months all the Pis being sold across the world have been manufactured in the UK.
"We had always intended and hoped that the Raspberry Pi would be manufactured within the UK," said Eben Upton, co founder of the Raspberry Pi Foundation. "We're really delighted that Premier Farnell and RS Components have been able to find such a reliable manufacturer as Sony."
Since its launch last year, Raspberry Pi has been something of a phenomenon. Demand for it has crashed websites and those who have since got their hands on one are exploring all manner of potential applications.
With over 1.75m of the devices now sold, the question which many are asking is where the device goes next? Will there be a Pi2 and, if so, when might it appear?
Speaking at the inaugural Electronics Design Show last week in Coventry, Raspberry Pi hardware designer Pete Lomas, pictured, said: "We don't have a mantra that says we have to produce another model every six months so people have to buy it.
"We have always said that we'll work hard not to disenfranchise the people who bought a Pi on day one. Any improvements we make will be as backward compatible as possible, with a mind to support early adopters."
Nevertheless, Lomas admitted the Foundation is thinking about Pi2 – what it might be and how it might fit with Pi1. "We are always looking to build on the device's success," he commented.
