Zebra: "Already Dominant with Industrial PDAs... Domestic Copycats Are Not Meaningful Competitors"

The Original Industrial PDA... No.1 in the Domestic Market Since 2000
Annual Investment of Billions in R&D... "Virtually No Competitors"
Double-Digit Growth Despite COVID-19... e-Commerce as the Driving Force
Accelerating Customer Diversification... Developing for Healthcare Professionals and More

Zebra Technologies' industrial PDA 'TC51-HC.' [Photo by Zebra Technologies]

[Asia Economy Reporter Junhyung Lee] Zebra Technologies, headquartered in Chicago, USA, is a dominant presence in the industrial handheld information terminal (PDA) market. According to the industry, the company holds about half of the global industrial PDA market share. Established in 1969, it has focused solely on developing industrial information recognition equipment until now.

The Korean branch was established in January 2000, at a time when inventory management and other processes in domestic manufacturing and logistics sites were being computerized in earnest. Wo Jongnam, head of Zebra Technologies Korea (pictured), has led the Korean branch for the past 21 years, playing the role of a ‘vanguard’ in pioneering the domestic market. Wo stated, "After entering the Korean market, we secured major clients across various industries such as manufacturing, distribution, and logistics," adding, "95% of large domestic companies engaged in manufacturing use our products."

Woo Jong-nam, Head of Zebra Technologies Korea. [Photo by Zebra Technologies]

Zebra has consistently maintained its number one position in the Korean market. Although many competitors, large and small, have emerged as the market grew, the reason it has not lost its top spot is due to the headquarters’ steady research and development (R&D). Wo explained, "The headquarters invests about 10% of total annual sales in R&D." The company’s global sales last year amounted to 5.4 trillion KRW.

He said, "There are no meaningful competitors in the domestic market," and added, "Once a large company chooses our products, they seek our products not only for domestic factories but also when building overseas factories." Although product prices are 20-30% higher than domestic competitors, this is because of the high trust in technological stability. Wo said, "Most products released by domestic competitors are our copycats," adding, "While this is somewhat threatening, I believe it also means we have firmly established ourselves as the market leader."

Zebra is recently paying close attention to the growth of the domestic e-commerce market. Domestic e-commerce companies such as Coupang have experienced ‘rocket growth’ since COVID-19 last year, accelerating investments in related infrastructure such as logistics centers. Since industrial PDAs are essential equipment for logistics centers, investments by e-commerce companies could lead to increased sales for Zebra. Although orders from manufacturing industry clients decreased last year due to reduced facility investments caused by COVID-19, orders from major domestic e-commerce companies surged sharply, resulting in Zebra’s sales last year showing double-digit growth compared to the previous year, according to Wo.

Zebra Technologies' ring scanner 'RS5100.' The company explains that this product is popular among e-commerce companies and others.
[Photo by Zebra Technologies]

Wo said, "We will seek new growth engines in the e-commerce market." Although manufacturing orders accounted for most of the Korean branch’s sales, the e-commerce sector is rapidly replacing that share. Wo acknowledged, "It is true that orders from manufacturers have decreased compared to the past as domestic companies move factories to China, Vietnam, and other countries," and added, "I believe this year and next year will be crucial for securing a leading position in the domestic e-commerce market."

They are also accelerating customer diversification. Underground tunnel development sites are a representative example. Zebra supplies explosion-proof products to sites where large amounts of explosives are used. Industrial PDAs developed for medical professionals are used at Seoul National University Hospital, Bundang CHA Hospital, and others. Wo said, "Even if medical staff only have industrial PDAs, responsibility can be clearly determined in the event of medical accidents," and added, "There is also great anticipation for new products such as fixed scanners to be released next year."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.