Aquila Network Blog

Yesterday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Ed Zander, the CEO of Motorola, unveiled a shiny yellow bicycle.

Not that impressive, until you realize that this is not just an ordinary bicycle. This bicycle has the potential to unlock the cell phone market to millions of new consumers in China and India.

How?

Notice that “thing” attached to the handlebars? That “thing” is a cell phone charger that utilizes the motion generated by the bicycle wheels to create power to charge the cell phone.

This becomes important when companies like Motorola attempt to access the emerging cell phone market in Developing Countries. Many of the new consumers in these countries lack access to a reliable power source, so charging a new cell phone becomes a bit problematic.

Since, many of the new consumers also use bicycles as their primary means of transportation, Motorola created a device that utilizes an existing technology (the bicycle) as a platform to help introduce a new technology (cell phone).

“For people living in emerging markets, energy is a scarcity,” Motorola chief executive Ed Zander said Monday at the Consumer Electronics Show. “In Southeast Asia, rural China and Latin America, we can actually put this in, hook it up and charge this device while we are riding a bike.”

He told the crowd the new charging system was aimed at helping to further penetration of the cellular phone in fast-growing overseas markets.

He said there are now more than two billion mobile devices in operation around the world.

Cellular phone companies attract more than five million new subscribers every month in China.

The market is of critical importance to companies such as Motorola and competitor Nokia Corp., which are facing slumping demand for their products in North America because the market has become saturated. Motorola issued a profit warning last week after discounts offered on new cellular phones took a toll on the company’s bottom line.

Business has the power to help bring innovation into the lives of poor through new products and services that can both improve lives and bring a profit. Having access to mobile phones can bring many social and economic benefits to a local community. But gaining access to this market is not a simple as throwing up some cell towers and opening a retail shop.
Creating solutions for issues the Developing World require MORE innovation, not less. We cannot just use “dumbed-down” versions of what we currently use in the United States. This extends beyond business to how we look at relief and aid. The problem of poverty requires new thinking. This is why there is so much potential for social capitalism. Traditionally, it has been the business sector that drives innovation forward. When this type of innovative mindset is turned toward the issues in the Developing World, we begin to see opportunities arise that were not available in the past. Opportunities like Kiva.org, the Grameen Phone, or the Scojo Foundation.

To see broader picture of how innovative products and services can bring transformation into the lives of the poor, take a look at The Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid by CK Prahalad.