Tetherless Computing Blog

Intel outlines plan to bridge India's digital divide | IDGNS | News | 2006-05-23 | By John Ribeiro, IDG News Service

This is a better strategy than Microsoft's I think (see the previous post). Instead of renting a high-end PC for some of the time, Intel has taken the time to design an appropriate machine for the market. The key figure here is that emerging markets account for 40% of worldwide PC sales. MS could see the same degree of revenue from emerging markets if it were to make a cost-reduced software package!

Interestingly enough, the big war between Google and MS may play out differently in BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India, China). Given the lower Internet penetrations here, and often unreliable connectivity (inherent with wireless), a server-based platform is less appealing than a PC-based solution. This inherently gives MS the upper hand in these markets. If MS can move fast to consolidate its position, it may pre-empt Google. Of course, Google's best bet is to proliferate connectivity and broadband: the more bits that fly around, the more that will stick on a Google property!

posted by S. Keshav @ Tuesday, May 23, 2006