Symbol Technologies
From the days of its first handheld laser barcode scanner in 1980, Symbol has come a long way in the enterprise mobility space. To date, the company holds more than 800 patents in all areas of mobile technology, including mobile computing, wireless infrastructure, radio frequency identification (RFID), mobility software, services and data capture.
A clear leader in its field, Symbol has worked closely with a long list of businesses and organizations worldwide. This year, it clinched a contract with Korea-based Asiana Airlines to install RFID tags and readers at six Korean airports. Symbol has also inked similar deals with other airport operators in the United States and Asia.
However, corporate scandals tainted the company's good work, when the U.S. Securities and Equities Commission charged Symbol for fraudulent accounting practices and misconduct between 1998 and early 2003.
Former Cisco top executive William Nuti, who has since left the company to join NCR, was appointed chief executive in 2003 to clean up the act. And he did so with a bang, by raising Symbol's revenues to US$1.3 billion, up 13 percent from the year before. Operating costs were also slashed by US$15.5 million.
Moving forward, Symbol's new interim CEO Sal Iannuzzi is confident about the company's future, after ending a long legal tussle with rival Intermec over RFID patents in September. Industry analysts have indicated that this settlement provides a good foundation for Symbol to go on.