Zebra Technologies Corporation is an American public company based in Lincolnshire, Illinois, USA, that manufactures and sells marking, tracking and computer printing technologies. Its products include thermal barcode label and receipt printers, RFID smart label printers/encoders/fixed & handheld readers/antennas, and card and kiosk printers that are used for barcode labeling, personal identification and specialty printing principally in the manufacturing supply chain, retail, healthcare and government sectors. In 2018, the company had sales of $4.218 billion and had a market capitalization of $12.55 billion.
History
Zebra was incorporated in 1969 as Data Specialties Incorporated, a manufacturer of high-speed electromechanical products. The company changed its focus to specialty on-demand labeling and ticketing systems in 1982 and became Zebra Technologies Corporation in 1986. Zebra became a publicly traded company in 1991. Since 2008, Zebra has outsourced the majority of its printer manufacturing to Jabil Circuit in Guangzhou, China. In 1998 Zebra Technologies merged with Eltron International, Inc. In 2000 Comtec Information Systems was acquired by Zebra Technologies, followed in 2003 by the acquisition of Atlantek, Inc. which was manufacturer of photo ID printers. In 2004 the company expanded into RFID smart label manufacturing In the following years Swecoin, WhereNet Corp, Proveo AG, and Navis Holdings. The company bought the Enterprise Solutions Group in 2008; and renamed the group Zebra Enterprise Solutions in 2009. In the same year, Multispectral Solutions, Inc. was acquired. In 2012 the company LaserBand, and StepOne Systems was purchased with a cash price of $1.5 million. In 2013 the company acquired Hart Systems for $94 million in cash from the private equity firm Topspin Partners LBO. In 2014, Zebra acquired Motorola Solutions' Enterprise business in a $3.45 billion transaction, providing mobile computing and advanced data capture communications technologies and services. In 2019, Zebra acquired Temptime Corporation, a provider of temperature monitoring devices to the healthcare industry. The company also provides player tracking technology to the NFL.
Locations
Zebra Technologies has more than 80 offices worldwide. In its annual report for the year ended December 2015, the company said it provided products and services in over 170 countries, with approximately 120 facilities and 7,000 employees worldwide.
