For years the in-flight satellite connectivity industry lauded market diversity as key to building a profitable global retail business. Intelsat‘s recent purchase of Gogo‘s Commercial Aviation business is founded on that concept. So is Viasat‘s global expansion and Inmarsat‘s network. Even Panasonic Avionics was in on the deal with its ITC Global division that focused on maritime and energy customers. Today, however, the company sees things differently.
Panasonic announced today that it is selling its ITC Global division to Apax Partners of France. ITC will incorporate into Marlink Group, “supporting the expansion of Marlink’s global leadership in the energy and enterprise markets.”
In a statement the company explains that its “long term strategy of focusing on aviation rather than diversifying across sector verticals has made [ITC] increasingly less integral to our core operations.”
PAC continues, “We remain steadfast in our commitment to in-flight connectivity and our global Ku-band service. This deal will have no impact on the inflight connectivity service we offer to the world’s leading airlines.”
How that translates to actions remains to be seen. Panasonic’s actions in recent years have suggested a different path, including the Inmarsat partnership and a strong focus on services rather than hardware and capacity.
But the company is under new management now and has not said much about its plans going forward. Once it clears the COVID-19 hurdles it seems anything is possible.
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