Redmond (WA) - Emerging markets are considered the next big opportunity for IT companies: One idea to connect more people to the Internet is the $100 laptop. Microsoft never warmed up to that concept, claiming that such a device will not be powerful enough to enable access to key applications. Instead, the firm creates a pay-as-you-go computer model to bring more computers to emerging markets.
Microsoft's idea - referred to as "FlexGo" technology - circles around the prepaid phone card, which has been established around the globe, especially in regions and population groups with changing income. Just like the phone, Microsoft's pay-as-you-go PC would be subsidized by the usage of "minutes," purchased for example at convenience stores. The company claims that such an approach could reduce the entry cost of a PC by "50% or more." Other than with the pre paid mobile phone model, consumers would actually own their PC after a certain number of minutes has been purchased.
"Today there are already more than one billion prepaid mobile phones used around the world, so we know FlexGo enables a familiar and comfortable pay-as-you-go model that works for people with variable or unpredictable income," said Will Poole, senior vice president of the Market Expansion Group at Microsoft. "Offering unprecedented flexibility of PC ownership will bring high-quality personal computers within the reach of hundreds of millions of families and small businesses in emerging markets so they too can enjoy the many benefits PCs bring in education, entertainment, communication and productivity."
