Raspberry Pi H1: Revenue Drops 6% to $135.5M - MCU Shipments Explode 105% to 4.5M

Raspberry Pi Holdings (LSE:RPI) turned in a patchy first half: revenue slipped, but the underlying hardware business looks to be gathering steam.

Top-line: revenue fell about 6% to $135.5 million versus the year‑ago period. Still, there are green shoots beneath that headline figure. Direct sales of single‑board computers and Compute Modules rose roughly 21% year‑on‑year, and direct unit shipments to approved resellers and OEM partners climbed 13% year‑on‑year (an 8% sequential uptick versus H2 2024).

Margins and profits: gross margin ticked up to 25% from 24% a year earlier. Adjusted EBITDA came in at $19.4 million - down about 7% on the year but up a healthier 19% sequentially from H2 2024. In short: profitability is stabilising even as revenue faces headwinds.

Product and volume dynamics grabbed attention. For the first time, semiconductor unit shipments outpaced board shipments, with total semiconductor units hitting 4.5 million. Microcontroller unit sales exploded, jumping 105% year‑on‑year to that same 4.5 million level. The company introduced seven new products in H1 and said it expects a similar cadence in H2.

CEO Eben Upton signalled the firm is seeing momentum in the channel - stronger reseller and OEM demand, an order backlog carrying into the second half, and an 8% sequential rise in direct unit shipments. Management also said the second half has started with EBITDA ahead of last year and reiterated unchanged profit guidance for the full year.

On the supply side, Raspberry Pi Holdings (LSE:RPI) says it has enough DRAM to hit its FY2025 targets despite recent memory price moves, and that it has contingency plans to handle any FY2026 shortages or further cost rises.

No fairy tale here - revenue dipped - but unit momentum, bigger semiconductor volumes and a doubling in MCU sales give the H1 report a lively subtext. The standout stat? 4.5 million microcontroller/semiconductor units.