Gemalto promises acquisitions and partnerships in the new year
Company prepares to take on the e-commerce industry with a series of job cuts, but smartcard sector remains strong; Gemalto sees an industry ripe for consolidation and sees itself as the acquisitor, not the acquired
France-based Gemalto, the smart card vendor whose efforts to conquer the ePassport market we have duly noted over the past year (the company recently reported a a 19 percent increase in sales to €42 million), plans to expand over the next year with a series of acquisitions and partnerships, the company announced last week at the Omnicard conference in Berlin. At the same time, the company expects job cuts as well, the result of disappointing earning in its non-ePassport-related businesses.
Among other things driving the company’s expansion are perceived opportunities in e-commerce. Such a move would position Gemalto as a direct competitor to IBM, Symantex, VeriSign, and EMC, among other industry giants. But the expansion will certainly extend to the smartcard sector as well. “This picture will change very quickly: The small players will merge with medium players; the medium players with other (players),” Mandl said. “This speaks to the fact this is a quick-evolving space.” We certainly do not disagree with that statement.
-read more in this Card Technology report
