Made in Japan: the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B

RS Components, in conjunction with the Raspberry Pi Foundation, has announced that its latest iteration of the Raspberry Pi 3 credit card-sized single-board computer will be manufactured in Japan under a local contract manufacturing arrangement.

Driven by the powerful onboard 64-bit ARM Cortex-A53 quad-core processor, the first ‘Made in Japan’ model will be the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B, which has significantly upgraded processing capabilities and delivers 10x faster performance than the original Raspberry Pi. This increase in global production is expected to serve the demand for the platform in the Asia–Pacific region.

“Existing models of the Raspberry Pi will continue to be manufactured in South Wales, UK, with the dual manufacturing locations in place to cater for future demand growth globally,” said William Chong, head of product, supplier, inventory and pricing management, Asia–Pacific, RS Components. “Asia–Pacific is a significant growth market for Raspberry Pi, and this new ‘Made in Japan’ element means that we are now geared up for this growth.”

All versions of the Raspberry Pi will be available to order from the RS Components website. A range of Raspberry Pi Starter Kits is also available, including the ‘official’ high-quality kit and the premium and value kits, meeting the needs of a range of customers and budgets. The starter kits allow users to begin their prototyping and development projects as soon as they have the board in their hands.