More than a million Raspberry Pi computers have been made in Britain, with 1.75m sold globally since going on sale for around £30 in February 2012.

The initial batch of the credit card-sized barebones computer were made in China, but a partnership between the Raspberry Pi Foundation, RS Components and Premier Farnell saw all Raspberry Pi manufacturing moved to a Sony-owned manufacturing plant in Pencoed, Wales in September 2012.

Since June 2012, production of Raspberry Pis at the Pencoed factory have ramped up from just 204 a week to nearly 40,000 Raspberry Pis a week in April 2013.

The Raspberry Pi is a credit card-sized barebones computer that uses a smartphone-like ARM processor to provide a basic and extensible computing platform for hobbyists, teachers, pupils and corporations alike.

The small computer has USB ports for a keyboard and mouse, an Ethernet port, a SD card slot, and an HDMI port for connecting to a monitor or a TV. It runs a variant of the free open-source operating system Linux, which powers many web servers and Android smartphones.

The Raspberry Pi is a barebones computer with a smartphone-like ARM processor that runs Linux. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Costing around £35 including shipping within the UK, the Raspberry Pi has lowered the entry level for access to a programmable computer geared up for learning how to code and for hacking projects, like building your own media player or retro video game console.

Sold out within minutes

The demand for the Raspberry Pi meant that it was sold out within minutes after going on sale at 6am on 29 February 2012, crashing retailer websites in the process. In March 2012 demand for the Raspberry Pi ran at "700 per second".

Eben Upton with the Raspberry Pi computer. Photograph: Antonio Olmos Photograph: Antonio Olmos

It took until April 2012 before the first Raspberry Pi computers actually shipped, however, due to manufacturing delays and safety testing.

In August 2012, the Raspberry Pi was available to purchase through British high street retailers, with a revised "B" version released in September 2012 with twice the amount of RAM. A camera accessory was then released in May 2013, which added the capability of capturing images and video for around £20.

Computing had become lacklustre and even boring

The Raspberry Pi started life as an idea to bring computing in schools back to the era of the BBC Micro in the early 1980s, which inspired children to learn how a computer worked and allowed them to discover what was possible through learning to code.

"What was needed was a return to an exciting, programmable machine like the old BBC Micro; and it had to be affordable, say around £20, so every child could potentially have one," explained Eben Upton co-founder of the Raspberry Pi at its launch. "Computing wasn't being seen as the exciting, vibrant subject it should be at school – it had become lacklustre and even boring."

The Raspberry Pi provides affordable access to programmable computers. Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian Photograph: Christopher Thomond/The Guardian

Google also saw potential in the Raspberry Pi for education, donating 15,000 of the computers to British schools in a collaboration with the Raspberry Pi Foundation in January 2013.

"We've been working to encourage the next generation of computer scientists, and we hope that this donation of Raspberry Pis to British school pupils will help drive a new wave of innovation," Eric Schmidt, Google's executive chairman said at the time.

Sums don't add up

While an affordable, programmable computer for schools is a step in the right direction, Nick Williams, senior product manager at networking specialist Brocade warned that the IT infrastructure within schools needed investment to support the connected device trend:

“Whilst the devices on offer to schools have taken a quantum leap in affordability and accessibility, schools still exist with twenty-year-old networking technology and the sums just do not add up."

“Old technology used by most educational IT departments simply can’t keep pace with the new world and a transition needs to take place to enable new innovations in education to come to fruition.

“Since its launch last year the Raspberry Pi Foundation has been on a mission to transform the education experience for students, but is it delivering? The reality is that there is more work to do to ensure that schools are ready for this new wave of mini computers," explained Williams.

• From keeping tabs on your baby to brewing your own beer, here are 12 things you can do with a Raspberry Pi.