Zebra Technologies to shift focus to smaller cities

Kochi, Sep 19 (UNI) US-based Zebra Technologies Corp., specialising in printing and automatic identification solutions, is to shift its focus to Tier II and III cities in India as some of them are among the fastest growing areas in the country, company Country Head Shailesh Deshmukh said.

Addressing a press conference here last night to announce the launch of its latest speciality printers in the Kerala market, Mr Deshmukh said Zebra was very bullish about Tier II cities such as Kochi, which is witnessing a GDP growth rate of 8.3 per cent.

Mr Deshmukh said the overall Indian market for printing solutions was growing at about 35 to 40 per cent. The overall automatic identification and data capturing industry (AIDC) had reached Rs 200 crore and is expected to grow at a robust pace.

Zebra Technologies was looking to target organised retail, logistics and manufacturing segments for selling its printer solutions, he added.

A 100 per cent channel-driven company, Zebra Technologies presently had about 75 partners and was aiming to double its channel base by the year-end.

Among the new speciality printers launched by the company here last evening were a healthcare barcode printer which generates antimicrobial coated wristbands for patient identification. It is priced at about Rs 50,000.

It also launched a desktop printer priced between Rs 16,000 and Rs 30,000 for the retail, hospitality and logistics industries.

With Kochi being the hub of textile retailing, seafood and spices exports, IT, tourism, health services, banking and shipbuilding in Kerala, the company said all these verticals could be potentially automated, Mr Deshmukh said.

UNI ARC0945