There is still room for very profitable market in IFE. Hopefully the 3rd generation of eVU with lots of new added feature will grasp the market . The following is the latest article re IFE.

November 17, 2008

Hot Topic: Thales On A Roll!

A couple months ago, we talked to Brad Foreman, CEO of US-based Thales operations. Now covering IFE and military, Brad had a lot to say to IFExpress. So much so, that we had to condense and summarize his words for this Hot Topic. Here are some of the hot buttons we gleaned form our meeting.

Today, Thales US has approximately 1200 employees and growth has been steady...including military. At this writing, there were 5 Thales installations around the country, and by, 2010 they expect to have 2 -3 more. Growth for Thales IFE business has been a steady 7 - 10 percent each year.

In regard to the IFE market, we asked just how big the IFE market is, knowing that Thales and Panasonic realistically divide the lions share if worldwide IFE each year. Brad noted that of the 1000 or so plane deliveries per year from Boeing and Airbus, about 300 of those aircraft are both companies natural markets. Sure, there are more IFE equipped deliveries, but the "big iron" or wide-bodies constitute the bulk of them. He noted, "We are delivering and selling around 160 shipsets each year.” (Editor’s Note: No mention was made of retrofit hardware). "To date we have about 80% of the B787 market and we are on every Chinese carrier,” said Foreman. "Our big markets are China, India, SE Asia, and the Middle East.”

Not to leave out connectivity, Foreman told us that he is still not convinced that Ku-based Broadband makes a good business case. While Thales hardware competes in this arena, questions still plague the perceived success of Ku operations over water. Foreman does believe in the future of Swift Broadband where costs per bit are lower and the business case is all but proven there.

Brad had plenty more to say, which you'll find in the full length article on our website later this week. In the interim, IFExpress readers, Thales has secured a large IFE deal with British Airway that you can read about in the Latest IFE News Releases of this issue.