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

MUMBAI, Oct 17 Asia Pulse - Citigroup CEO Charles Prince wants the US banking major to grab a larger slice of India’s micro finance sector in order to generate more business for its local banking operations. The group will continue to look at organic growth in India and appoint more people there, Prince said. We have long presence in India having more than 100 years of operations here. Our operations have been nice so far. However, we can do a lot more, he ...

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Asia Pulse News (link opens in a new window)

US-based semiconductor maker AMD said it would enter a joint venture with an Indian firm to sell personal computers for the same cost as cellphones. The company said it had joined with local technology firm HCL Infosystems to sell a personal computer for less than 10,000 rupees (220 dollars) to boost ownership in the nation of one-billion plus people with only 15 million users. That is in line with the cost of cellphones with a camera which retails for about 8,000 rupee...

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TodayOnline.com (link opens in a new window)

Region

South Asia

PLANNING to purchase a low-cost personal computer? HCL Infosystems on Thursday has launched an AMD-powered, Linux-based PC priced at Rs 9,990. The new HCL Ezeebee Pride computer ? unveiled by the Communications and IT Minister, Mr Dayanidhi Maran ? comes with a configuration of AMD x 86 1.6 GHz processor, 128 MB RAM, 40 GB Hard Disk Drive, 52X CD ROM, 15-inch colour monitor and Linux Operating System, and supports applications such as word processor, spreadsheet, presentations, Web b...

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The Hindu Business Line (link opens in a new window)

Let A Thousand Brands Bloom: Multinationals are competing with local companies for a more discerning

Five years ago General Motors Corp. () offered just a handful of car models in China -- mostly large, high-end Buicks costing around $40,000. That limited selection worked in a market dominated by fleet sales to government offices and enterprises: What these customers wanted were large sedans for hauling big shots. We were targeting institutional buyers, who were our big market back then, says Kevin Wale, president of GM China. Fast-forward to the present, and it’s ha...

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BusinessWeek (link opens in a new window)

China’s Life Insurance Sector Should Tap Rural Areas: McKinsey

To strengthen China’s emerging life insurance sector the country should make more effort to exploit the huge potential in vast rural regions, suggested a report from McKinsey & Company. According to the report, most insurance companies don’t provide sufficient coverage in under-developed areas. New entrants, especially foreign insurers, have concentrated on the wealthiest, most developed areas, leaving vast under-developed areas of the country without recourse to this pow...

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Asia Pulse (link opens in a new window)

Region

Asia Pacific

FOUNDATION WILL HELP FOR-PROFIT EFFORTS AS WELL AS NON-PROFITS

When Google went public more than a year ago, founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin promised to use 1 percent of the company’s equity and profits to create a philanthropic organization that could ``eclipse Google itself in terms of overall world impact.’’ Now the company is starting to make good on this promise. Over the next 20 years, Google will spend money equivalent to 3 million shares of its stock -- about 1 percent of the number of shares it had when it wen...

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The Mercury News (link opens in a new window)

But TI exec reckons even users in developing countries will opt for phones with more capabilities

Mobile phones could be sold wholesale for as little as $15 by the end of 2008, although the result might be a handset nobody wants, an executive from chip maker Texas Instruments (Profile, Products, Articles) said Tuesday. It’s definitely possible, though that’s a very aggressive target, said Bill Krenik, manager of TI’s advanced wireless chip architectures, in a telephone interview. The GSM Association set the $15 wholesale price target during the recent 3GSM...

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InfoWorld (link opens in a new window)

Entrepreneurship Thrives in an Enabling Culture

Research reveals that there is a powerful connection between the culture of a people and its propensity to be entrepreneurial. Kenya, for example, has national sub-cultures which have important implications for creating an entrepreneurial economy. That would mean that in the effort to build greater entrepreneurship, it is useful to first understand the culture of a people and work with it, not against it. Let us begin with two fundamental questions: What is culture? Why is it important...

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The East African Standard (link opens in a new window)