TOKYO - French defense
electronics manufacturer Thales Group is making a
full-scale move into the Japanese market.
Within
the year, the company plans to invest in a Japanese firm
to be selected in the near future. It will work with its
Japanese partner to set up service locations and
strengthen the service structure in a bid to expand
orders for electronic parts and equipment related to air
traffic control systems.
Thales is considering
establishing a production site in Japan and may also set
up an research and development location with its
Japanese partner to study applications of GPS (global
positioning system) equipment, artificial intelligence
and surgical operation simulators.
The
French firm also plans to select Japanese agents within
the year for its information-technology (IT) business, which
includes advanced security systems for protecting data
on corporate networks.
Thales's three
main businesses are defense-related electronic
equipment, aircraft equipment and IT. For 2001, the
company reported total sales of 10.3 billion euros
(US$11 billion). It has a 50 percent share of the
flight-simulator market in Japan, which contributes about 100
million euros to revenue.
