Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton has revealed some details that have proven crucial to the company’s success, and further hints at future Pi shops.
Speaking to Tom’s Hardware (opens in new tab), Upton explained that the company enjoyed a healthy December 2022, meaning it was firmly on track for what he would have expected pre-pandemic.
He later revealed the company’s bulk buying habits which have led it to have an abundance of supply, even during times of chip shortages.
Raspberry Pi supply
Upton explained that a decision was made to purchase 500 wafers, each capable of producing between 21,000 and 22,000 die for the RP2040 chip (each measuring about 2mm squared), which retails for around $1/£1.
This move has led to a total of 10 million RP2040 chips produced since 2021, leading to a “stockpile” ready to funnel into the popular Pico W variants (available from $4/£3.60).
The company has also bought other components in large numbers, such as Wi-Fi models, to the tune of “millions of units”.
Upton was later asked whether the company would consider opening more Raspberry Pi stores. Currently, a sole Cambridge-based shop that first opened its doors in February 2019 offers all manner of hardware, accessories, and literature by Raspberry Pi and third parties, with several other pop-ups appearing up and down the UK over time.
Moving forward, “the next chapter” would likely be determined by further trials of pop-up stores, however it was indicated that the company may cater to the large Raspberry Pi community that has formed in India in recent years.
English
Arabic
Belarusian
Bengali
Bosnian
Bulgarian
Chinese (Simplified)
Croatian
Czech
Danish
Dutch
Estonian
Filipino
Finnish
French
Georgian
German
Greek
Gujarati
Hausa
Hebrew
Hindi
Hmong
Hungarian
Igbo
Indonesian
Italian
Japanese
Javanese
Kazakh
Korean
Kurdish (Kurmanji)
Kyrgyz
Lao
Latvian
Lithuanian
Macedonian
Malagasy
Norwegian
Persian
Polish
Portuguese
Punjabi
Romanian
Russian
Serbian
Slovak
Slovenian
Spanish
Swedish
Thai
Turkish
Ukrainian
Vietnamese
Yoruba