Symbol unveils rugged handhelds
By Reuters
Published: January 11, 2006, 3:24 PM PST
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Symbol Technologies, best known for its bar code scanning devices, on Wednesday unveiled several new heavy-duty wireless products aimed at expanding into new markets including health care.
The company sees the latest products, which have cellular links, attracting more users outside its traditional warehouse market and helping raise its total potential market by about 10 percent to 15 percent this year from an estimated $7 billion in 2005, executives said.
Symbol's 2005 revenue is expected to be about $1.76 billion, according to the average forecast of analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.
The company, which put features like e-mail in its latest devices, introduced its first product for the Sprint Nextel iDen network, which is used mainly by business customers. Another new device will run on Cingular Wireless' network.
Its MC9097 handheld computer, which it says is waterproof and can work after falling six feet onto concrete or after being run over by a truck. It will run on the Sprint Nextel iDen network, which is often used to transport and construction workers.
The MC70 handheld computer will run on Cingular's network and can still work after being dropped four feet or being cleaned with alcohol, making it a practical choice for hygiene-conscious health-care workers, Symbol said.
"We're really looking to branch out into new markets with this technology," Alan Marcus, Symbol's chief marketing officer said.
In the third quarter, Symbol also plans to bring out a forklift-mounted wireless tag reader that uses an emerging technology known as radio frequency identification, or RFID, to read tags to double-check the right products are being moved.
Symbol's shares closed down 11 cents at $12.99 on the New York Stock Exchange on Wednesday.
