Thales Taiwan GPS makers eye ODM orders from Thales Navigation

Thales Navigation, a leading provider, worldwide, of GPS (global
positioning system) navigation solutions and products, will be sold this
quarter to an investment group led by Shah Capital Partners (SCP), and
this may cause a change in the former's outsourced production
strategies, with several Taiwan makers interested in its new ODM orders,
according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Thales Navigation, headquartered in California, is a subsidiary of the
France-based electronics firm Thales, which focuses on aerospace and
defense technology. Thales Navigation will be renamed Magellan
Navigation following the acquisition by SCP, the sources indicated.
Thales Navigation has two GPS consumer-level lines under its brand
Magellan, the RoadMate series of in-car portable navigation devices
(PNDs) and the eXplorist series of outdoor handheld navigation devices,
the sources noted.

Kinpo Electronics, in Taiwan, has undertaken OEM production and assembly
of the RoadMate and eXplorist products for Thales Navigation. When
Thales Navigation reduced its R&D staff and outsourced product design,
in 2005, in an effort to minimize costs, Mitac International, another
Taiwan electronics manufacturer, received ODM orders for the RoadMate
800 series models, the sources indicated.

Unlike the RoadMate, the eXplorist product line has to be shockproof and
waterproof, to meet the needs of outdoor activities. Since Taiwan makers
have, to date, no substantial experience in developing products with
these features, Thales Navigation's eXplorist ODM orders will pose a
challenge to their design capability, the sources pointed out. However,
Kinpo, Mitac and other Taiwan makers, such as Lite-On Technology and
Jabil Circuit, are poised to compete for such ODM orders, the sources
added.