Thales aims to capture about 40% of the in-flight entertainment (IFE) market within three years, reversing the fortunes of its former Sextant In-Flight Systems subsidiary.
In 1999, the then-Thomson CSF acquired the remaining 49% of Sextant In-Flight Systems from B/E Aerospace. Since then, Thales's IFE business has performed worse than predicted at the time of the takeover, with the French manufacturer capturing only 5% of the market in 2002.
By last year this had grown to 25% and François Quentin, senior vice-president for Thales aerospace division, says its TopSeries system, which has been selected by Air France and Malaysia Airlines for their Airbus A380 fleets, will capture around 30% of the market this year, rising to 40% by 2007. The global IFE market, worth around $800 million annually, is now growing at a rate of around 10% a year again after a post-September 2001 stagnation, he says.
Thales competes in the sector against market leader Panasonic Avionics (formerly Matsushita Avionics Systems), and other players, including Rockwell Collins and Lufthansa Technik.
Earlier this month Thales chief executive Denis Ranque said civil aerospace was an area for growth for the company, with IFE a core part of that strategy. Quentin says: "Much of the technology is similar, with on-board servers the same as those used in defence aircraft, so there are obvious synergies to exploit."
Thales IFE is based in Irvine, California and Quentin says the subsidiary's integration with the company's defence businesses will increase as the product matures.
"With the introduction of high-speed data connection by satellite communications, there will be a growing convergence between cockpit and cabin systems," he says.
JUSTIN WASTNAGE/PARIS
Source: Flight International
