Microsoft and Chinese PC maker Lenovo have announced plans to launch pay-as-you-go computers in China and India.

Consumers will be able to buy a Lenovo PC for about half its normal price and then pay off the remaining balance by purchasing pre-pay cards. The "FlexGo" scheme will be similar to pay-as-you-go for mobile phones, with codes on pre-paid cards used to activate the service, the two companies said in a joint statement released on Monday.

The companies hope to attract new customers by allowing customers to buy access to a computer as and when they can afford to. The scheme will offer greater flexibility than a fixed monthly payment scheme, the firms claim. And, after purchasing a set number of pre-paid cards, the balance for the computer will be paid off and consumers will no longer need to buy access.

Market trials will be launched in China and India over the next three months and will feature mid-range Lenovo desktop computers. A similar market trial has already been conducted by Microsoft in Brazil.

Unpredictable income

"Today there are already more than one billion prepay mobile phones used around the world," says Will Poole, senior vice president of the Market Expansion Group at Microsoft. "So we know FlexGo enables a familiar and comfortable pay-as-you-go model that works for people with variable or unpredictable income."

Microsoft says it is also working with partners including AMD and Intel to organise further pay-as-you-go trials in Hungary, Mexico, Russia, Slovenia and Vietnam.

"Offering unprecedented flexibility of PC ownership will bring high-quality personal computers within the reach of hundreds of millions of families and small businesses in emerging markets," Poole adds. "So they too can enjoy the many benefits PCs bring in education, entertainment, communication and productivity."

Microsoft is furthermore working with the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank to underwrite PC purchases and prepaid cards for lower-income consumers.