As a brilliant and humanitarian idea, you can’t beat Nicholas Negroponte’s vision to create a $100 laptop for children in developing countries, which could be purchased and distributed by private or public benefactors.
But despite a few early wins, governments have been slow in snapping up these portable powerhouses for their young citizens. The problem isn’t technological; the cheap “XO” machines are rugged, useful, and even include wireless networking capability. No, the issue is more around execution of the business model, argues Harvard Business School professor John Quelch. He recently completed a case study, written with Carin-Isabel Knoop, on the One Laptop per Child program.
“While on the surface it is a laudable vision to get one laptop to each child, and the motives are pristine, there are stumbling blocks in implementation,” he observes.
Problems encountered by the OLPC team include:
- Inability to drive down the price tag to $100; it sells for closer to $175.
- Dell, Lenovo, and Intel, attracted by the OLPC concept, are moving into the market as competitors.
- Bureaucracy and and limited resources make government purchase decisiions very slow — if they come at all.
What do you think of OLPC? Is there a better business model to make this non-profit program sustainable?
