The cheaper model of the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s microcomputer is now available in the United States. The Raspberry Pi Model A is equipped with the same 700MHz processor as the more expensive Model B but includes only one USB port, no Ethernet port, and half the RAM of the original model to keep the price low. Sales of the Model A began in Europe in February and expanded to Asia last week. Raspberry Pi founder Eben Upton has revealed that sales of the cheaper Pi unit are around “a few thousand a week” so far.
“We burned through the first 20,000 units quite quickly, and are building a few thousand a week at the moment, but we don’t have good visibility of sell through yet,” Upton said in a statement to TechCrunch. “I’d expect us to dip in and out of availability for the next month or so until we reach a steady state.”
The device consumes roughly a third of the power of the Model B and is marketed towards do-it-yourself projects that use a battery or solar power. The Raspberry Pi Model A is available to American buyers for $25 from Allied Electronics.
