Raspberry Pi announces 'expected intention to float' on London Stock Exchange

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It's almost time to get your share of Pi.

Raspberry Pi IPO
(Image credit: Pexels / Tom's Hardware)

Days after we reported that its $630 million IPO (Initial Public Offer) was just days away, Raspberry Pi has announced an "expected intention to float" on the London Stock Exchange (LSE). The announcement also contains financial reports and data for investors to inform their purchase, and gives us an insight into the company.

The announcement starts by highlighting the key facts of its history and partnerships. We learn that the low-cost, high-performance single board computer developer has sold over 60 million units since 2012 — of which 7.4 million units were sold in 2023. As for partnerships, the announcement explicitly refers to Arm and Sony, both of which have been long term partners of the Raspberry Pi.

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Les Pounder
Les Pounder
Associate Editor

Les Pounder is an associate editor at Tom's Hardware. He is a creative technologist and for seven years has created projects to educate and inspire minds both young and old. He has worked with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to write and deliver their teacher training program "Picademy".

6 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Giroro
    Every publicly traded company has exactly one goal: Make all the profit in the world, no matter what.

    So what is the next big thing for the FOSS community to support? It's only a short matter of time before a John Riccitiello or Bobby Kotick type (or maybe the real deal, they're both available) seizes control of the company and ruins everything for every developer, forever. Things move fast now, UnityTechnology was only public for 3 years before their products became completely untouchable for all developers - and Unity wasn't ever marketed for FOSS. Raspberry Pi is donezo, and we can't live in denial about it forever.
    There's no point in waiting around for the inevitable AI app store where they hoover up free passion projects, launder them through an LLM, and start selling them back to us. Or maybe they'll start charging us per OS or app install, or maybe they'll lock GPIO functionality behind a subscription service.
    I don't know what a lootbox, battlepass, or even really "hardware as a service" looks like in the context of a Raspberry Pi, but we will eventually find out... Their leadership will have the fiduciary responsibility to consider every possibility, and implement every single thing they think might boost the bottom line.
    It's healthier to make our escape plan now, before the situation gets pathetic.
    Reply
  • usertests
    Giroro said:
    Raspberry Pi is donezo, and we can't live in denial about it forever.
    Raspberry Pi had already split itself into two entities, the charity Raspberry Pi Foundation, and Raspberry Pi Ltd which it owned. So it's not necessarily "donezo".
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Giroro said:
    ...
    OMG. Cynical much?

    Why is it apparently so important to be first to show moral outrage that you've had to create an entire fantasy scenario to get upset over? Maybe just chill and see how it plays out. You can certainly convey your apprehensions without ginning up such an elaborate story.

    P.S. consider that most of Raspberry Pi's competitors are for-profit companies and some of them make very decent products (e.g. HardKernel's ODROID series, for instance), often better than Raspberry Pi's own. If the new entity falters, I trust there'll be enough others that can jump in and fill the breach.
    Reply
  • Fludonludon
    I agree with Giroro. I have seen companies with good moral intentions go down in flames as soon as the bean counters determine that they are worth a few dollars. Soon Raspberry Pi will be ripe for the picking. The door has opened. Large dollar offers are difficult to pass-up, but even the most principled companies are no match for the mega hedge funds or other investment entities.
    Well Raspberry Pi it has been excellent run:(.
    Reply
  • bit_user
    Fludonludon said:
    I have seen companies with good moral intentions go down in flames as soon as the bean counters determine that they are worth a few dollars.
    I'm sure there are plenty of counterexamples, as well.

    Also, I wonder if it matters that Raspberry Pi is incorporated in the UK. They surely have different corporate laws and investor rights, over there.
    Reply
  • Fludonludon
    bit_user said:
    I'm sure there are plenty of counterexamples, as well.

    Also, I wonder if it matters that Raspberry Pi is incorporated in the UK. They surely have different corporate laws and investor rights, over there.
    I certainly hope your right.
    Reply