Manufacture of the Raspberry Pi has begun!

Posted by on Jan 10, 2012 in News | 2 Comments

The manufacturing of the final Raspberry Pi boards started a few days ago and are expected to be ready for sale at the beginning of February.

One of the goals of the Raspberry Pi Foundation was for the Raspberry Pi boards to be manufactured entirely within the United Kingdom, unfortunately this was not possible due to the high tax prices when importing components and the 12-14 week estimated turnaround.

The first batch of approximately 10,000 Raspberry Pi’s will be manufactured in Taiwan and China before being imported into the UK as a completed product to avoid the large tax prices.

The majority of the first batch will be the B model of the Raspberry Pi as there is a much higher demand for the slightly upgraded model, the Raspberry Pi Foundation hope to be able to manufacture the A model within the UK in the near future.

2 Comments

  1. Lee Smithyman
    January 18, 2012

    Good afternoon, I am enquiring regarding the UK manufacture of the ARM based Microcomputer. I noticed this product through national TV advertising in the UK and was drawn to the link between CPI Electronics Ltd and Raspberry PI.

    Currently CPI Electronics Ltd are an established Contract Electronic Manufacturer in the UK with capacity and capabilities in bespoke electronic manufacturing services over a variety of market segments including Defence, Medical, Petrochemical, automation and many more.

    CPI Electronics Ltd have global buying power of all electronic components, which enable us to be extremely competitive with pricing and lead times to assist with manufacturing deadlines that are specified in many articles at the moment surrounded Raspberry PI’s ARM based Microcomputer. E.g.(http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-16424990)

    I am keen to establish a contact with the right personnel involved with procurement and look forward to a response regarding the opportunity to build on a future business partnership in the near future.

    If you require any additional information please contact me on 01709 722575.

    Best Regards

    Lee Smithyman
    Sales & Marketing Co-Ordinator

  2. Jim
    January 18, 2012

    Thanks for the message Lee, but I think you might want to speak to the Raspberry Pi Foundation here: http://www.rapsberrypi.org

    Best of luck.