Zebra Technologies is an American-based mobile computing company and is known for IoT innovations. The company was founded in 1969 by Ed Kaplan and Gerhard Cless. Zebra Technologies was originally incorporated as Data Specialties Incorporated and later the brand name was changed after several mergers and acquisitions. The headquarters of the company is based in Illinois, United States and there are nearly 9,000 employees in the company. It has received several awards and is recognized by famous magazines like Forbes for being one of the best American employers. The company has currently spread across 100 countries and has made more than 10,000 partners.
About Zebra Technologies
The main industry in which Zebra Technologies is based is computer hardware, retail, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, and health. The company has offices in 50 countries and the locations include China, Germany, India, the US, UK, Japan, Mexico, Russia, and many more. By the end of 2015, the company announced that the products and services of Zebra Technologies are provided across 170 countries. And by the end of 2020, the company reached 180 countries with 8,800 employees. Though the company has made several acquisitions in the past twenty years, in 2021 it acquired three companies in a row including Adaptive Vision, Fetch Robotics, and Antuit.ai.
Foundation
When Zebra Technologies was established back in the late 1960s, its main domain was manufacturing high-speed electromechanical products. After more than a decade, the company decided to shift its market and focus on on-demand labeling and ticketing systems. So, in 1982 it rolled out its first barcode printer and after four years introduced a thermal printer for on-demand barcode labeling. In 1986, the company’s name was changed to its current name Zebra Technologies and in 1991 it became a publicly-traded company. In the same year, Company also introduced its first laser scannable two-dimensional barcode. In 1997, it launched the first wearable computer and eventually started expanding its product base.
Expansion
In 1998, Company merged with Eltron International, a company known for manufacturing photo ID card printers. Zebra Technologies started acquiring companies from the starting of the next decade. In 2000, it acquired Comtec Information Systems, a manufacturer of wireless mobile printers followed by acquiring Atlantek Inc in 2003. Next year, the company entered into the RFID smart label manufacturing market and launched new products. In the next few years, the company acquired Swecoin, Proveo AG, WhereNetCorp, and Navis Holdings. In 2007, Zebra Technologies appointed its new CEO, Anders Gustafsson. It also acquired Enterprise Solutions Group in 2008 which was renamed Zebra Enterprise Solutions in 2009.
In the upcoming years, Zebra Technologies acquired Multispectral Solutions, LaserBand, and StepOne Systems. The last two companies were purchased for $1.5 million. In 2013, the made a big acquisition as it purchased Hart Systems from a private equity firm Topspin Partners LBO. The deal was finalized for $94 million. In 2014, the company offered $3.45 billion for acquiring Motorola Solutions’ Enterprise Division. This acquisition brought many new technologies to the company including advanced data capture communications technology. In the same year, the company also installed its real-time location system (RTLS) in NFL stadiums. In 2018, the company acquired Xplore Technologies followed by Temptime Corporation in 2019. For workforce management and communication solutions, the company acquired Reflexis Systems in 2020.
Anders Gustafsson – CEO of Zebra Technologies
Anders Gustafsson is the CEO and a director of Zebra Technologies. Before Anders joined Zebra Technologies, he served as the CEO of Spirent Communications. When he was at Spirent, his strategies helped the company grow in the non-core sector and also made several successful acquisitions. He was also associated with Tellabs Inc and Motorola. He completed electrical engineering from the Chalmers University of Technology.
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