ABI research affirms Zebra's RFID leadership

New York-based ABI Research rated companies by technology leadership, ability to deliver product, R&D funding, intellectual property, product diversity, solution offerings, quality of partnerships and alliances, market share and other factors. Zebra ranked in the top 10 percent of the nearly 150 RFID companies that ABI rated. Zebra was the only company with a predominantly printer/encoder product line to rank in the top 15, and was one of only two in the top 50. Zebra also partners or collaborates with the top six companies in the ABI RFID Vendor Matrix.

"In order to stand out in this field, a competitive company like Zebra must continually prove its ability to be innovative and to deliver the product," said Erik Michielsen, ABI Research director of RFID & M2M Research. "Technology needs both invention and execution. Some companies excel at innovation. Others are renowned for their effective implementation of new products, services and strategies. Companies like Zebra who excel at both are true leaders in their field."

"We value this honor more than designations based on research that simply tries to count shipments and measure market share," said Paul Garner, Zebra Technology's Dubai based Regional Sales Manager for the Middle East, India and South Africa. "Our customers trust Zebra to help them extract the business benefits from RFID technology, and we are pleased that ABI has recognized our commitment."

Zebra has been researching and developing RFID technologies for nearly 10 years. It was the first company to produce an integrated, on-demand RFID printer/encoder more than five years ago. It has continued its leadership through a recent string of innovations, including:
• In January, 2006 the first supplier to meet Wal-Mart's EPC global second generation (Gen2) RFID protocol requirement used Zebra printer/encoders to produce their compliant smart labels;
• Zebra was the first company to provide a free, publicly downloadable firmware upgrade so its printer/encoders could produce Gen2 and still support previous protocols;
• Zebra was the first company to demonstrate successful Gen2 printing/encoding using inlays from multiple leading suppliers;
• Through its SAP-certified XML Schema v. 2.1, Zebra gives SAP customers the widest range of printer/encoders for outputting RFID smart labels directly from their SAP software solutions;
• Zebra smart label printer/encoders are now available in 39 countries on five continents, having recently earned regulatory approval in Taiwan and South Korea;
• Other market research established Zebra has the largest installed base of both high frequency and EPC ultra-high frequency (UHF) models in every category and geographic region, covering the widest range of applications.
Today, Zebra has the broadest printer/encoder product line for use in supply chain applications. Zebra is playing an active role in the development of RFID smart label technology, standards and applications for supply chain and business improvement programs designed to help suppliers to various industries in the region.