We are present on most of the new programmes

Four years to the day after the birth of Gemalto, resulting from the merger of Axalto and Gemplus, Olivier Piou, its Director General, sets out its strategy for the years to come. If the group is to develop on its core business (SIM cards, banking, security), it puts the priority on the development of its activity of software and services, and the explosion of new electronic products, such as tablets. Gemalto will notably provide the SIM of the iPad.

Four years ago was born Gemalto, Axalto and Gemplus merged from. What balance to take you today

The merger gave results beyond my expectations. Gemalto has become the undisputed world leader in smart cards and the security of the digital world, with interesting positions in each market segment. Paradoxically, the fierce competition that we have imposed our rivals following the merger allowed us to accelerate the integration of the two companies. This was not without difficulty, but synergies emerged very quickly. At the same time, we have maintained our efforts in research and development. This budget today reached EUR 110 million per year, half of them in France.

GPT, entered American Fund with a capital of Gemplus in 2000, is to withdraw from the capital of Gemalto, yielding about 6.5 of the capital. How do you interpret it

There has always been many questions and suspicion around the strategy of TPG. But it is recognized that this shareholder well behaved during those ten years. He even saved Gemplus of bankruptcy in the 2000s. And supported the proposed merger with Axalto. Unfortunately for him, he had to face the collapse of the dot-com bubble and social plans that then affected most of the high-tech companies. It then served as a scapegoat, in the role of the American financier who dismissed French employees. But in the end, none of the rumours on his account was true, and they share in a logical manner: as investment funds, it was not programmed to stay forever in the company.

Since the beginning of the year, the recovery is felt in the high-tech. What about Gemalto

Our first quarter has been good, with an increase of the turnover of 6 to EUR 390 million. But our horizon is more distant. Our objective is to achieve operational profit in 2013 EUR 300 million. We are confident. Our core business is solid because very diverse in the world, with a balanced presence. On the mobile telephony business, which accounted for 50 of our turnover, the volume of sold SIM cards continues to grow, even if the turnover of traditional products should soon reach a plateau. We rely on several relay of growth, with the sale of SIM cards more advanced, including for example the NFC technology, which allows to pay via mobile phone

You signed a contract with the United Nations Federal Credit Union. Is this finally a gateway for the smart card in the United States

This contract, although that of small size, is very symbolic. United Nations FCU was that some of its employees were denied their payments abroad, the fact that their map, magstripe, lacked sufficient security criteria. This is the first time that American individuals can be equipped with an EMV card. The success is impressive: tens of thousands of cards have already been distributed and the New Yorkers travelling open an account at the UNFCU. Some competing banks are beginning to ask questions. This can open opportunities.

Prospect new markets

Our strategy is clear: we are continuing our development on our core business, while based on two relays for growth. First, we develop new services associated with around our physical products. For example, we design services for securing transactions to the payment by mobile from the SIM card and software to ensure a secure connection to the bank account from the phone. It is a relay tremendous growth: every year, we sell 1.5 billion products worldwide (SIM cards, banking...), all of which are pluggable. This activity is 10 of our turnover, EUR 155 million, against almost nothing four years ago. My dream, to term, would be to achieve a euro of sales in software and services by product and by year, which would be the equivalent of our current total sales.

What is your second growth relay

Our chips and our security software fit into multiple products, which become more intelligent. In the future, it will be as well applications in home automation, health or consumer electronics. We already equip "e-reader" Kindle for Amazon, and today, we see the tablets market open to us. We thus equip the iPad and the current success of touch tablets will necessarily have an impact on our sales. We are present on most of the new programmes.