November 13, 2009
The gimmick of 100 yen PC
| Recently, many consumers have seen a mini mobile notebook computer sold for 100 yen at electronic retail stores. Shoppers are astonished by the extremely low price. Is it true, could a new notebook with a range of functions only cost 100 yen? It’s true, but there are conditions. The notebook comes in a set that includes a data communication service. Without signing up for the mobile broadband service offered by EMOBILE Ltd. and maintaining the contract for two years, users cannot get the PC at 100 yen. What is most commonly offered is a netbook at the retail price of or around 50,000 yen for the combo deal. A netbook has limited functions when compared with the latest laptop computers. If you continue using the data communication service for two years, it costs at least 69,600 yen annually (2,900 yen every month). Also, when you sign up, you will be charged a handling fee of 2,835 yen, which is in addition to 100 yen for the computer itself. Most computer users use an internet connection. If you are a new internet user and are considering a broadband internet connection, it can be said that the monthly fee of EMOBILE service is quite reasonable. Compared to buying a netbook at 50,000 yen and subscribing to an internet connection, buying the notebook saves you approximately 20,000 yen. This business model is similar to the 1-yen cellular phone. The low initial cost and the value of the 100 yen notebook has made this a hot-selling item. The numbers of people who have been signing up for EMOBILE internet connection have been increasing at the pace of several ten thousand each month. |
