Turbolinux to expand across Asia

Far-east Linux distributor Turbolinux is looking to target the Indian market after achieving profitability in Japan and China.

Mitsunobu Okada, the chief financial officer of Turbolinux, told IDG that it plans to send a number of employees to India this year. The Linux distribution is already available in India via a local distributor, but there is an issue with the provision of support, Okada said.

Last month Turbolinux announced that its Japan office and Chinese subsidiary achieved "substantial profits" in 2004. Koichi Yano, the chief executive of Turbolinux, said while it has struggled financially in the past it has now overcome these problems.

"Although it is true that in 2002 there were many difficulties in keeping the company in business, it is now our great pleasure to achieve such a high level of profitability, both in Japan and China," said Yano in a statement.

The company claims to have grown by 280 percent over the last year. One of the reasons for this growth is a number of government contracts that it won in both Japan and China, which includes a contract with the Chinese Railway Ministry to deploy its products on over 450 servers.