IBM has for years relied on emerging markets like India as a source of low-cost labor. But with prosperity spreading in such countries -- thanks in part to offshoring by IBM itself and by other U.S. tech firms -- the world's poorer regions now represent a solid sales opportunity for Big Blue.

IBM's sales in the Americas grew just 3% in the third quarter, but sales in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa jumped 10%, while sales in the Asia-Pacific region rose 6%.

With such numbers in mind, IBM on Tuesday launched a new mainframe computer aimed specifically at midsize businesses in emerging markets. The z10 Business Class mainframe is for smaller companies in Asia and elsewhere that want to simplify their computing environments, IBM said.

The system is priced at less than $100,000, making it affordable for companies in developing nations. IBM is offering zero-interest, zero-payment financing on the system for the first 90 days.

The z10 offers users big opportunities for server consolidation. It holds the capacity of up to 232 x86 servers within a footprint that's 83% smaller.

One company that plans to use the system is Transzap, a provider of electronic payment services for the oil industry. "We're a small company but our transaction data volumes are growing upwards of 100% annually," Transzap CEO Peter Flanagan said in a statement provided by IBM.

Though mainframes have given way to client-server architectures in most businesses environments, there's still growth in the market. IBM's revenue from mainframe sales increased 25% year over year in the third quarter, while sales of Intel-based servers declined 18%.

More than 600 new applications have been developed for the System Z series in 2008 so far, by more than 1,400 independent software developers, according to IBM.

IBM shares were off 2.6% to $90.10 in midafternoon trading Tuesday as the financial markets remained volatile.