Raspberry Pi's founder Eben Upton says a chat with Eric Schmidt in 2013 prompted him to scrap plans for pricier, more powerful devices and create $5 Pi Zero
How Google Inspired Raspberry Pi's $5 Computer — A chance encounter with Alphabet Inc.'s Google chairman Eric Schmidt …
Context & Ripple Effects
Days after Raspberry Pi unveiled the $5 Pi Zero, Eben Upton has revealed the decision's origin story: a 2013 conversation with then-Google chairman Eric Schmidt convinced him to scrap plans for pricier, more powerful boards and double down on price. The Zero pairs 512MB of RAM with a processor 40% faster than the original Raspberry Pi 1, and ships free with December's issue of The MagPi magazine.
The reveal also reframes how the company sees itself: not chasing the spec ladder, but protecting access at the bottom of the market — a strategy that carried through to Upton discussing the firm's London listing and Welsh assembly operations nearly a decade later.
First-order effects
- Raspberry Pi cancels its higher-priced device roadmap, redirecting engineering toward a board that undercuts even its own entry-level pricing by a wide margin.
- Magazine readers get the hardware for free with The MagPi's December issue, turning a publication into a physical-distribution channel for the board itself.
Second-order effects
- A $5 price point forces every other single-board competitor to justify its premium against a board that is simultaneously cheaper and 40% faster than the original Raspberry Pi 1.
- Google gains goodwill and ecosystem reach among hobbyists and educators at near-zero cost, extending Alphabet's influence into the maker segment without building hardware.
Third-order effects
- If the pattern holds, single-board computing consolidates around price-led platforms with loyal distribution channels — a path Raspberry Pi followed all the way to public markets and domestic manufacturing in Wales.
- The episode shows external counsel from large-platform players can reset a small hardware firm's strategy; expect founders to keep treating big-tech conversations as strategic inputs, not just partnership openings.
The trend: Single-board computers are shifting from spec competition to price-and-access competition, with mission-led firms like Raspberry Pi turning cheapness itself into the moat.