IBM is focused on innovation and emerging markets. It’s always been looking for ways to improve existing products and discovering new ways to add value to them. Simmtronics Simmbook which has come to fruition out of a partnership among IBM, Canonical and Simmtronics, is a $190 netbook that takes advantage of cloud computing to provide value in emerging markets such as South Africa and India. The device is not completely cloud-based (though next generation netbooks may be heading that way). However, it does come with the software needed to take advantage of cloud computing and save consumers money in comparison to top Windows netbooks.

The focus of this device is to reduce costs for consumers and give them a more affordable option to take advantage of mobile computing. The focus is on open source products as well. Linux is much more affordable than Windows. Add to that IBM’s and other open source products available on the device, and it’s not to see why this product is so affordable.

Many of us have been dreaming about under $100 netbooks for months now. The prices of netbooks are coming down somewhat, but we are not anywhere close to that dream. In fact, most netbooks today hover around $300, so there is a long way to go before we reach anywhere close to that price. The good news is cloud computing is going to make it easier to achieve that goal. And you won’t have to sacrifice performance to get there. Simmtronics Simmbook proves just that.

Simmbook may not become a hit in the states. Not just yet anyway. But it does give emerging markets something to be excited about. It’s affordable and powerful. At this point, broadband availability is going to be the major issues for cloud companies to deal with.