RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the world’s leading high service distributor of electronics and maintenance products, has released an update on the pricing and availability of Raspberry Pi, the credit card sized computer board designed to encourage a new generation of PC users to discover and develop their programming skills.
Since the Raspberry Pi was announced on February 29th, RS has received more than 200,000 registrations of interest on its websites across the globe. RS is one of only two distributors licensed to sell the Raspberry Pi boards worldwide.
The first batch of boards is due to arrive into RS warehouses towards the end of March and will be despatched to customers on a first-come, first-served basis in line with customer registrations. Due to the huge demand for Raspberry Pi, orders will be restricted initially to one board per customer. All customers who have registered an expression of interest will be notified when they can place an order for Raspberry Pi via the new, dedicated RS Raspberry Pi webshop.
By connecting a Raspberry Pi to a monitor or TV and keyboard, budding computer programmers can use the power of the Raspberry Pi to develop new programs, games and apps, enabling the board to then handle many of the tasks traditionally performed by a PC, such as Internet browsing.
The Raspberry Pi boards from RS will be priced at £21.60 plus a shipping charge of £4.95 to any destination worldwide, plus VAT and import duty as applicable. Raspberry Pi users will require accessories such as a USB A-B cable, HDMI cable, power supply and a SD memory card. Where customers order these cables or other accessories at the same time from RS, the same total shipping charge will apply.
On behalf of the Raspberry Pi Foundation, Liz Upton, said, “We’ve every confidence that our chosen distributors are doing everything possible to satisfy the amazing demand for our first product. The level of demand has really taken us by surprise but we know that RS has committed all available resources to ramp up production and deliver Raspberry Pi boards to eager customers as soon as possible.”
Glenn Jarrett, Head of Electronics Marketing at RS Components, said, “We have never experienced this level of interest in a product and it has been challenging to address the unexpectedly high levels of demand. However, rather than simply rush Raspberry Pi to market, our priority is to ensure that customers receive a product of outstanding quality and reliability. I know it’s frustrating for those waiting to receive a board but I’m certain they will be delighted when they get it. We’d like customers to know that RS is working on a number of initiatives to help them get the most from these innovative, educational computer boards and we’ll be announcing these over the coming weeks.”
RS will be in regular communication with customers regarding the order process and availability of the Raspberry Pi. PayPal and Visa or MasterCard credit and debit cards will be accepted.
The Raspberry Pi concept was created by the Raspberry Pi Foundation, a charity based in Cambridge, UK, and was conceived to encourage and enable children to learn and apply computer programming.
Comments are closed.