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Raspberry Pi gets Aussie price drop

The US$35 computer, Raspberry Pi, will benefit from a price drop that sees Australians paying $38 for the unit, a drop of almost $20 from the original price.
Written by Luke Hopewell, Contributor

The US$35 computer, Raspberry Pi, will benefit from a price drop that sees Australians paying $38 for the unit, a drop of almost $20 from the original price.

Raspberry Pi

The Raspberry Pi
(Credit: Raspberry Pi Foundation)

The Raspberry Pi is a computer roughly the size of a credit card (85.60x53.98x17mm), featuring a CPU clocking in at 700MHz, 256MB of RAM and a bevy of ports, including a USB and LAN port, an SD card slot, HDMI out, audio out and, of course, a power port. The Model B Raspberry Pi system-on-a-chip sold out within minutes on 29 February, leaving suppliers RS Components and Element 14 flooded with registrations of interest for the device.

The two suppliers aired their prices for international markets on Tuesday, which saw RS Components charge £21.60 for the unit itself, a flat £4.95 delivery fee and taxes where appropriate. Element 14, however, aired a complex table that saw different regions broken down and charged varying rates for the device. Australia was set to be slugged $54.75 for the computer, including shipping and taxes.

However, the Raspberry Pi Foundation tweeted today that Australians can now expect a lower price for the unit.

"Good news for Australians — @element14 have just been in touch to tell us they're reducing the price of Raspberry Pi to $38 AUD," the non-profit foundation said online today.

No word has been given yet on whether the price includes shipping, but it is logical to assume that it would, considering that Element 14 bundled its shipping cost into the $54.75 price table on Tuesday. ZDNet Australia asked the Raspberry Pi Foundation about the shipping price, which is now waiting on more information from Element 14.

"I'll be putting a statement about the Australian price up as soon as I get it," the foundation tweeted.

Replying to another user, the foundation said that the price drop won't happen everywhere, and is only being put into effect for Australia due to an unexpectedly high original price.

"No change in the US. The Australian price was unexpectedly high," it wrote to Twitter user Jan M. Cruz.

More information on this as it develops.

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