2018 Top 20 Automatic Data Capture Suppliers

When he looks at the performance of automatic identification and data capture (AIDC) solutions providers over the last year, David Krebs, vice president of VDC Research‘s enterprise mobility and connected devices, sees two different stories developing. One involves the development of the AIDC solutions themselves, and the other centers on the rapid growth of mobile in the warehousing and distribution environment.

On the equipment side (which VDC defines as handheld rugged mobile computers; vehicle-mounted computers; handheld and stationary bar code scanners; and thermal label printers), Zebra Technologies “really hit its stride in terms of product development and performance in 2017,” says Krebs. As proof, he points to the company’s year-over-year 4.7% growth (from $2.13 billion in 2016 to $2.23 billion last year), which incorporates the revenues of both Motorola Solutions and Psion.

Krebs says there’s also been “a lot of consolidation at the top,” with Zebra and Honeywell working to establish their footholds in the market through mergers and acquisitions (M&A). “There’s been some fairly aggressive M&A play going on,” says Krebs. In fact, he says the market’s larger players have basically consolidated the entire spectrum of Auto-ID (both stationary and handheld data capture scanning) and the printing/output technology (labeling and the associated mobile technologies).

“Thanks to the consolidation trend,” says Krebs, “both Zebra and Honeywell have positions in what we see as being some of the primary hardware categories that make up today’s AIDC market.”

SC
MR