14 DAY TRIAL // With the so-called economic recovery, one may have noticed that new computing devices, especially tablets, are being priced higher than they could be, so Genesi decided to play the affordability card.
Back in January, it was estimated that, of the estimated 6.9 billion humans, 5.9 billion were living in emerging markets.
As such, with the world's population on the rise, demand for all sorts of computing devices should increase as well.
Of course, going by this logic, the large number of customers on emerging markets would imply a large demand for low-cost electronics.
As such, Genesi decided it was time for its energy-efficient, affordable Efika MX computers to get even cheaper.
“We have created a low-cost, energy-efficient, Internet-connected line of note/netbooks through a very specific business model,” said Raquel Velasco, Managing Director/Chairman, Genesi USA Inc.
“We lower our costs to produce Efika MX products through our vast developer community and with local assembly and manufacturing, we will be able to pass even more savings along.”
One of the products set to start selling for less than before is the two-pound Smartbook netbook, priced at $199 and, for the 3G version, $249.
These prices are trounced completely by the much cheaper Smarttop network computer, which goes for $129 and, like the one above, has a very compact and light frame and still includes WiFi and the like.
“For a lot of people around the world, price has been a barrier to having any kind of technological connection to create or consume data. Eighty percent of the world’s population has mobile reach via a 3G (third generation) network, and of that number, only 20% have Internet access,” he added.
“Having a connection to the rest of the world is empowering – just look at what’s happening in North Africa and the Middle East right now – and, for people and businesses in these emerging markets, a Smarttop or Smartbook may be their first fully web-connected device.”
Info on the specs of the Efika MX Smarttop and 10.1-inch Efika MX Smartbook is available on the Genesi website.