The 30-year-old printer maker built a useful software business on code it did not control. Now it owns a perpetual license, runs BOHA! on Azure, and is weighing what to do with the casino unit that still pays most of the bills.
Zebra Technologies turned the humble barcode into a bridge between physical work and digital intelligence. Now its scanners, printers, sensors, software and screens are becoming the control layer for the frontline.