Open Source Is Useless – Without Hardware

You might not have noticed that the $35 computer, Raspberry Pi has exceeded 1 million units shipped. Further, they have production volumes cranked up to the point where you can order more than one unit.

In early March this year Raspberry Pi signed a deal with Sony to move a large part of the manufacturing process to the United Kingdom. This decision was based on high demand in the UK and Europe for the unit and the relative technical expertise of UK production processes.

???In June we scheduled 204 units per week. By July that had climbed to 10,000 units per week – this month we will achieve 38,000 output per week, and this is just the beginning,??? said Gerald Kelly, the General Manager of Sony’s Pencoed plant.

Since the production process moved to UK manufacturing the numbers produced in the UK alone have risen to 40,000. This means in quantifiable terms the UK now produces more than the Chinese facility – impressive stuff. As a result shipments have now exceeded the 500,000 mark but with production ramping up so quickly 1 million units shipped is a landmark expected to be achieved in July.