Business
Haiti: Surtab tablet manufacturer now has a competitor – Handxom SA
Surtab SA began with the help of a US$200,000 grant from the Pan-American Development Fund. It now employs 50 people, 20 of whom assemble the units in an air-tight production room.
Surtab employees earn a base salary of US$6.81 per work day with a bonus per unit that can push pay above US$13, said Diderot Musset, Surtab’s operations manager.
Haiti’s minimum wage is US$4.54 a day.
Handxsom’s Jimmy Jacques declined to say how much the company pays its employees but said it hopes to hire as many as 400 people.
The most basic tablet sells for about US$100 and comes with a Wi-Fi. Prices rise to US$280 for a model with a high-definition screen and 3G phone connection. All come with 7-inch screens.
The baseline Surtab machine has a 1.2 GHz dual-core processor with 1 GB of RAM. The high-definition model carries a quad-core processor and 2 GB of RAM.
Surtab executives say they hope to reach the country’s tiny but steadily growing middle class.
Source: Associated Press
