NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Pyramid power

Will seamstresses in Guatemala or poor farmers in India pay $3 for a pair of reading glasses? It seems unlikely. Such people are among the three billion or so who earn only a dollar or two a day. And yet Scojo Vision, an American optical firm, is betting that they will pay that princely sum for its spectacles. The notion that only subsidies or handouts can provide the world’s poorest with essential services such as health care is wrong, says Jordan Kassalow, Scojo’s co-founder a...

Source

Economist (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

$100 laptop could sell to public

The backers of the One Laptop Per Child project are looking at the possibility of selling the machine to the public. One idea would be for customers to have to buy two laptops at once - with the second going to the developing world. Five million of the laptops will be delivered to developing nations this summer, in one of the most ambitious educational exercises ever undertaken. Michalis Bletsas, chief connectivity officer for the project, said eBay could be a pa...

Source

BBC (link opens in a new window)

Motorola’s gloomy outlook casts shadow on mobile phone market

As rapid industrialisation has boosted disposable incomes and phone networks in emerging markets such as India and China, handset makers have tapped into growing demand. Over the past two years, China has enjoyed growth of 5 million users a month, while Indian monthly growth now averages 6 million. The need for lower-cost models for large parts of these markets, along with intensifying competition between manufacturers, has eaten away at margins. Motorola has rattled the mobile phon...

Source

The Guardian (link opens in a new window)

India’s vast market lures telecom giants

Companies like General Motors, Unilever and Coca-Cola are pinning their future growth plans on Asia, where tens of millions of consumers are stepping over the threshold from poverty to the middle class. But to appeal to these low-income, highly price- conscious customers, many businesses are finding that they must learn to make money on drastically less expensive offerings. And as they reinvent themselves to suit the frugal shoppers of Asia, some wonder whether the strategies of Western corporat...

Source

International Herald Tribune (link opens in a new window)

India poised for pharmaceutical boom

As the cost of healthcare rises worldwide, Indian pharmaceuticals have positioned themselves to take advantage. For instance, Indian drugmakers now have 75 plants approved to make drugs for the American market - the most of any nation except the United States itself. Also, like Indian IT a decade ago, pharmaceuticals are on the cusp of an outsourcing trend that could become a $3-billion-a-year industry by 2010. During a lifetime spent treating AIDS patients from Asia to the deepest reaches of Af...

Source

Christian Science Monitor (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

Hospital Caters to China’s Wealthy and Poor

At the TEDA International Cardiovascular Hospital just outside Beijing, patients can choose from six levels of service. At the lowest end, for about $6.70 a night, patients must share a small room with others. The biggest suite at the hospital, on the other hand, costs about $3,200 a night and occupies half the floor of a building. It offers satellite television, an indoor garden, a conference room, two bedrooms, a massage chair and a private gym. It’s just like a...

Source

Wall Street Journal (link opens in a new window)

Tata, Fiat may join hands for Rs 1-lakh car

Italian carmaker Fiat may join hands with Tata Motors to roll out Ratan Tata?s Rs 1 lakh dream car. The car, whose design is completed in Tata Motors’ Pune centre, is expected to hit Indian roads by mid-2008. Alfredo Altavilla, Fiat’s senior vice-president for business development said, Fiat has a strong presence in the small car segment and we are open to any kind of co-operation with the Tata group. On Thursday, Tata Motors and the Italian carmaker ...

Source

The Times of India (link opens in a new window)

Yale makes big changes to MBA program

Yale this year became the first major university to require its MBA students to study abroad. The Ivy League school also replaced finance and marketing courses that have been the mainstay of business education for 50 years with courses structured to mimic the way business managers operate. For one group of graduate business students at Yale, next month’s lessons will take place on pineapple, banana and coffee plantations in Costa Rica. Other Master of Business Administration stude...

Source

Associated Press (link opens in a new window)