Forget the fruitcake, Raspberry Pi has been served over 30 million times

raspberry pi
(Image credit: Raspberry Pi Foundation)

Several years ago, the Raspberry Pi Foundation rightly surmised there was a market for a low-cost, credit-card sized computer for modders and tinkers. The charity organization was quickly proven correct when it sold 700,000 units of its introductory Raspberry Pi Model B in 2012, and now seven years later, cumulative sales of the Raspberry Pi product stack has ballooned to over 30 million units.

Raspberry Pi co-founder Eben Upton announced the milestone on Twitter, saying the company sold its 30 millionth unit sometime in early December.

"Raspberry Pi numbers get stale fast. We sold our thirty-millionth unit sometime last week (we think Tuesday)," Upton wrote.

It's quite the achievement. To put that figure into perspective, the Guinness Book of World Records recognizes the infamous Commodore 64 as the best selling single-model computer of all time, with sales estimates of between 17 million to 30 million units from 1982 to 1994.

In contrast, the Raspberry Pi has gone through several iterations, so the beloved C64's record still stands. Still, it is an impressive achievement, especially considering the Raspberry Pi is a niche product without the benefit of TV ads that the C64 had.

This makes me wonder how many people will one day look back fondly at the Raspberry Pi as their first real introduction into computing, like so many people (myself included) do with the C64. It's a different kind of situation, granted, but 30 million is a big number.

In case you're wondering, there are all kinds of neat things you can do on these mini PCs. We wrote about five cool Raspberry Pi projects in 2015, which include a home-brewed Steam box and a computer for your car. You can also build a games emulator, wireless access point, and many other things with these nifty little (and rather inexpensive at ~$35) devices.

The newest version of the Raspberry Pi is fairly powerful for its size and cost. It contains a quad-core 1.5GHz ARM-based processor, up to 4GB of RAM, dual-band Wi-Fi 5 (802.11ac) + Bluetooth 5 connectivity, support for dual 4K monitors, and a few other odds and ends.

Paul Lilly

Paul has been playing PC games and raking his knuckles on computer hardware since the Commodore 64. He does not have any tattoos, but thinks it would be cool to get one that reads LOAD"*",8,1. In his off time, he rides motorcycles and wrestles alligators (only one of those is true).

Latest in Hardware
A woman wearing a VR headset with dramatic, colourful lighting across the background
'World’s smallest LEDs' could lead to accurately lit screens with 127,000 pixels per inch and much more immersive VR
The NES themed 8BitDo Retro mechanical gaming keyboard on a blue background
I love the 8BitDo Retro C64 keyboard but I'd pick its cheaper NES-themed model near its lowest price ever during Amazon's Big Spring Sale
The snazzy red and black HyperX Cloud Alpha wireless headphones float in a teal void. The microphone is attached to the headset.
The best wireless gaming headset is now even better in the Amazon Big Spring Sale, boasting a more than $50 discount
A chip being held up in an Intel fab
Intel is reportedly 'working to finalize commitments from Nvidia' as a foundry partner, suggesting gaming potential for the 18A node
Amazon box
Don't panic! The 'Do Not Send Voice Recordings' option Amazon just removed was only used by 0.03% of customers and they can still have it
Digital generated image of people surrounded by interactive transparent and glowing panels with data. Visualising smart technology, blockchain and artificial intelligence
Now I shall demand the cookies! Proposed new browsing agreement turns the tables and lets users dictate terms to websites
Latest in News
An Enshrouded player in a recreation of Erebor from The Lord of the Rings
Kings under the Mountain! 33 Enshrouded players spent 10,000 hours to recreate this iconic location from The Lord of the Rings
A mech awakens.
Mecha Break developer is considering unlocking all mechs following open beta feedback
Lara Croft Unified Art
Tomb Raider developer Crystal Dynamics lays off 17 employees 'to better align our current business needs and the studio's future success'
A long bendy arm stealing money from people in a subway car
'You're a very long arm. You steal things. It's a comedy game,' explains developer of comedy game where you steal things with a very long arm
The heroes are attacked by monsters
Pillars of Eternity is getting turn-based combat to mark its 10th anniversary, and that means PC Gamer editors will soon be arguing about combat mechanics again
Image of Ronaldo from Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves trailer
It doesn't really make sense that soccer star Ronaldo is now a Fatal Fury character, but if you follow the money you can see how it happened