Item 1. Business

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Item 1. Business

The Company

We are a global leader in the Automatic Identification and Data Capture (“AIDC”) industry. The AIDC market consists of mobile computing, data capture, radio frequency identification devices (“RFID”), barcode printing, and other workflow automation products and services. The Company’s solutions are proven to help our customers and end-users digitize and automate their workflows to achieve their critical business objectives, including improved productivity and operational efficiency, optimized regulatory compliance, and better customer experiences.

We design, manufacture, and sell a broad range of AIDC products, including: mobile computers, barcode scanners and imagers, RFID readers, specialty printers for barcode labeling and personal identification, real-time location systems (“RTLS”), related accessories and supplies, such as labels and other consumables, and related software applications. We also provide machine vision and robotics automation solutions; a full range of services, including maintenance, technical support, repair, managed and professional services; as well as cloud-based software subscriptions. End-users of our products, solutions and services include those in the retail and e-commerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare, public sector, and other

industries. We operate in 122 facilities with approximately 9,750 employees worldwide. We provide our products, solutions and services globally through a direct sales force and extensive network of over 10,000 channel partners, operating in approximately 185 countries.

We continue to advance our Enterprise Asset Intelligence (“EAI”) vision: every asset and front-line worker visible, connected, and fully optimized. Through continual innovation, we have expanded beyond the traditional AIDC market to transform activities such as factory production, packages moving through a supply chain, retail shopping, and the hospital patient journey. Data from enterprise assets, including status, condition, location, utilization, and preferences, is analyzed in the cloud to provide prioritized actionable insights. As a result, our solutions enable enterprises to “sense, analyze, and act” more effectively to optimize their activities.

The need to transform workflows is being driven by secular trends in technology, which include the internet of things (“IoT”), cloud-based data analytics, automation, mobility, computer vision, as well as artificial intelligence and machine learning. The IoT enables the real-time exchange of an increasingly broad set of information among a proliferation of smart, connected devices. The continued rapid growth of mobile computing devices and application software are also significantly expanding use cases throughout enterprises and supply chains. With these expanded capabilities, end-users can consume and act upon dynamic enterprise data and information anytime and anywhere. Leveraging artificial intelligence through machine learning can analyze real-time data for increased visibility into workflows and actionable insights. Additionally, computer and machine vision technology, which enables the automatic extraction and understanding of useful information from a digital image or video, provides a key element in many of our solutions.

Acquisitions

Matrox: On June 3, 2022, the Company acquired Matrox Electronic Systems Ltd. (“Matrox”) for $881 million in cash, net of Matrox’s cash on-hand. Matrox is a leading provider of advanced machine vision components and software serving multiple end-markets. Through its acquisition, the Company expanded its machine vision products and software offerings. The operating results of Matrox are included in the EVM segment.

Antuit: On October 7, 2021, the Company acquired Antuit Holdings Pte. Ltd. (“Antuit”) for $145 million in cash, net of cash acquired. Antuit is a provider of demand-sensing and pricing optimization software solutions for retail and consumer products companies. Through this acquisition, the Company expanded its portfolio of software solution offerings to customers in these industries by combining Antuit’s platform with its existing software solutions and EVM products. The operating results of Antuit are included in the EVM segment.

Fetch: On August 9, 2021, the Company acquired Fetch Robotics, Inc. (“Fetch”) for $301 million, which consisted of $290 million in cash paid, net of cash acquired, and the fair value of the Company’s existing minority ownership interest in Fetch of $11 million, as remeasured upon acquisition. Fetch is a provider of autonomous mobile robot solutions for customers who operate in the manufacturing, distribution, and fulfillment industries, enabling customers to optimize workflows through robotic automation. Through this acquisition, the Company expanded its automation solution offerings within these industries. The operating results of Fetch are included within the EVM segment.

Adaptive Vision: On May 17, 2021, the Company acquired Adaptive Vision Sp. z o.o. (“Adaptive Vision”) for $18 million in cash, net of cash acquired. Adaptive Vision is a provider of graphical machine vision software with applications in the manufacturing industry, as well as a provider of libraries and other offerings for machine vision developers. The operating results of Adaptive Vision are included within the EVM segment.

See Note 5, Business Acquisitions in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for additional details.

Operations and Technologies

Our operations consist of two reportable segments that provide complementary offerings to our customers: Asset Intelligence & Tracking (“AIT”), which includes barcode and card printing, RFID and RTLS offerings, supplies, and services; and Enterprise Visibility & Mobility (“EVM”), which includes mobile computing, data capture, fixed industrial scanning and machine vision, services and workflow optimization solutions.

Asset Intelligence & Tracking

Barcode and Card Printing: We design, manufacture, and sell printers, which produce high-quality labels, wristbands, tickets, receipts, and plastic cards on demand. Our customers use our printers in a wide range of applications, including routing and tracking, patient safety, transaction processing, personal identification, product authentication, ticketing and receipts. These applications require high levels of data accuracy, speed, and reliability.

Our printers use thermal printing technology, which creates images by heating certain pixels of an electrical printhead to selectively image a ribbon or heat-sensitive substrate. Our printers integrate company-designed mechanisms, electrical systems, and firmware that supports serial, parallel, Ethernet, USB, Bluetooth, or 802.11 wireless communications with appropriate security protocols. Enclosures of metal or high-impact plastic help ensure durability of our printers. Printing instructions can be received as a proprietary language such as Zebra Programming Language II, as a print driver-provided image, or as user-defined Extensible Markup Language. These features make our printers easy to integrate into most computer systems.

We also provide dye-sublimination thermal card printers that produce high quality images and are used for secure, reliable personal identification (e.g. state identification cards, drivers’ licenses, and healthcare identification cards), access control (e.g. employee or student building access), and financial transactions (e.g. credit, debit and ATM cards). Additionally, we provide RFID printers that encode data into passive RFID transponders embedded in a label or card. We offer a wide range of accessories and options for our printers, including carrying cases, vehicle mounts and battery chargers.

RFID and RTLS Offerings: We provide a range of hardware and software options for capturing location data to satisfy a large variety of requirements for range, accuracy, and precision. Our active and passive RFID products include fixed readers, RFID enabled mobile computers, and RFID sleds that utilize passive ultra-high frequency to provide high-speed, non-line of sight data capture from hundreds or thousands of RFID tags in near real-time. Using the Electronic Product Code (“EPC”) standard, end-users across multiple industries use our RFID technology to track high-value assets, monitor shipments, and drive increased retail sales through improved inventory accuracy. Our location solutions offerings include a range of RTLS and services that generate precise, on-demand information about the physical location and status of high-valued assets, equipment, and people. These solutions incorporate active and passive RFID technologies, beacons, and other tracking technologies to enable users to locate, track, manage, and optimize the utilization of enterprise assets and personnel. We provide substantially all elements of the location solution, including tags, sensors, exciters, middleware software, and application software.

Supplies: We produce and sell stock and customized thermal labels, receipts, ribbons, plastic cards, and RFID tags suitable for use with our printers, as well as wristbands for use in laser printers. We support our printing products, resellers, and end-users with an extensive line of superior quality, high-performance supplies optimized to a particular end-user’s needs, such as chemical or abrasion resistance, extreme temperature environments, exceptional image quality, or long life. We promote the use of supplies with our printing equipment. Our supplies business also includes temperature-monitoring labels primarily used in vaccine distribution, which incorporate chemical indicators designed to change color upon exceeding predefined time and/or temperature thresholds.

Services: We provide a full range of maintenance, technical support, and repair services. We also provide managed and professional services, including those which help customers manage their devices and related software applications. Our offerings include cloud-based subscriptions and multiple service levels. They are typically contracted through multi-year service agreements. We provide our services directly and through our global network of partners.

Enterprise Visibility & Mobility

Mobile Computing: We design, manufacture, and sell rugged and enterprise-grade mobile computing products and accessories in a variety of specialized form factors and designs to meet a wide array of enterprise applications. Purpose-built devices ensure reliable operations for targeted use cases, surviving years of rough handling and harsh environments. Industrial applications include inventory management in warehouses and distribution centers; field mobility applications include field service, post and parcel, and direct store delivery; and retail and customer facing applications include e-commerce, omnichannel, mobile point of sale, inventory look-up, staff collaboration, and analytics. Our mobile computing products primarily incorporate the Android™ operating system and support local-area and wide-area voice and data communications. Our products are also offered with software tools and services that enable secure data transmission while also supporting application development, device configuration, and field support to facilitate seamless, rapid deployment and maximum customer return on investment. Our products often incorporate barcode scanning, global position system and RFID features, and other sensory capabilities. Additionally, specialized features, such as advanced data capture technologies, data analytics technologies, voice and video collaboration tools, and advanced battery technologies, enable our customers to work more efficiently and better serve their own customers.

Data Capture, Fixed Industrial Scanning, and Machine Vision: We design, manufacture, and sell barcode scanners, industrial machine vision cameras, and fixed industrial scanners. Our portfolio of scanners includes laser scanning and imager products in a variety of form factors, including fixed, handheld, and embedded original equipment manufacturer (“OEM”) modules. Our scanners incorporate a range of technologies including area imagers, linear imagers, and lasers, as well as read linear and two-dimensional barcodes. They are used in a broad range of applications, ranging from supermarket checkouts to industrial warehouse optimization to patient management in hospitals. The design of these products reflects the diverse needs of these markets, with different ergonomics, multiple communication protocols, and varying levels of ruggedness. In 2021 we introduced fixed industrial scanning and machine vision solutions, and in 2022, we significantly expanded our machine vision

solutions through the acquisition of Matrox Imaging. Our fixed industrial scanning products automatically track and trace items that move from production through distribution. Our industrial machine vision platform-independent software, software development kits, smart cameras, vision controllers, frame grabbers, input/output cards, and 3D sensors capture, inspect, assess, and record data from industrial vision systems in factory automation, semiconductor inspection, pharmaceutical packaging, food & beverage, among other use cases. We also provide related software and accessories for these products.

Services: We provide a full range of maintenance, technical support, and repair services. We also provide managed and professional services that, among other things, help customers design, test, and deploy our solutions as well as manage their mobility devices, software applications and workflows. Our offerings include cloud-based subscriptions with multiple service levels, which are typically contracted through multi-year service agreements. We provide our services directly and through our global network of partners.

Workflow optimization solutions: We provide a portfolio of solutions that help our customers improve the agility and productivity of key operational workflows by analyzing and acting on data in real time. Our primary focus is on frontline workers in Zebra’s core customer segments, including retail, transportation and logistics, warehouse and distribution, and healthcare. Our workflow optimization solutions include:

  • Software-based solutions, which include workforce management, workflow execution and task management, demand-sensing, price optimization, prescriptive analytics, as well as communication and collaboration-based solutions. These solutions are typically delivered through cloud-based software subscriptions and leverage big data, artificial intelligence, and mobile and web applications to provide customers with real-time visibility and actionable insights about their business. By analyzing labor, inventory, transactional and real-time situational data, these solutions are able to forecast demand, prescribe actions, schedule workers, and enhance collaboration. Our software-based solutions are available with multiple service levels, and are often contracted through multi-year service agreements;

  • Retail solutions, which include a range of physical inventory management solutions, including solutions for full store physical inventories, cycle counts, and analytics; and

  • Robotic automation solutions, which include software-powered autonomous robots that enable customers to orchestrate workflows alongside frontline workers, improving productivity and operational efficiency. Our robotic automation solutions are available in a variety of form factors to accommodate many use cases.

Our Competitive Strengths

The following are core competitive strengths that we believe enable us to differentiate ourselves from our competitors:

An industry leader focused on improving enterprise workflows

We are focused on the key technology solutions that drive improved enterprise workflows, including mobile computing, barcode and card printing, data capture, RFID, fixed industrial scanning, machine vision, and workflow optimization solutions, along with related software, services, and accessories. Our leadership position enables us to work with and support customers globally, in a variety of industries, who are focused on implementing leading-edge solutions.

High barriers to entry

On a global basis, we have long-standing relationships with end-users and with our extensive network of channel partners. We believe these customer relationships and our strong partner network are critical to our success and would be difficult for a new market entrant to replicate. We believe a significant portion of our products and solutions are deployed with specialized product performance and software application requirements, which could result in high switching costs.

Commitment to innovation and deep industry-specific expertise

Over time, we have developed and delivered improved, targeted end-to-end solutions for our customers. We remain committed to leveraging our technology portfolio and expertise in the industries that we service to continue to develop innovative solutions that meet the key needs of our customers.

Highly diversified business mix

We are highly diversified across business segments, end markets, geographies, and customers. Additionally, we have strong recurring business in services, supplies, and software driven by an extensive global installed base of purpose-built products and solutions.

Global reach and brand

We sell to customers directly and through our network of channel partners around the world. This global presence gives us the capability to supply our customers with products, solutions, and services no matter the location of their operations. In addition, we believe we have strong brand recognition with a reputation in the industry as a trusted and strategic partner, known for delivering high quality products that are reliable and durable.

Scale advantages

We believe the size and scope of our operations, including market leadership, product and solution development investment, portfolio breadth, and global distribution, give us advantages over our competitors. We believe we have the largest installed base of products compared to other companies in our industry. These characteristics enable us to compete successfully, achieve economies of scale, and develop industry-leading solutions.

Our Business Strategies

Leverage our market leadership position and innovation to profitably grow our core business

We expect to drive revenue growth by continuing to outpace our competition in our core businesses, including mobile computing, data capture, barcode printing, and services. We expect to achieve this by leveraging our broad portfolio of solutions and product innovation and continuing to be a strategic partner to end customers. We also expect to drive growth by capitalizing on technology transitions occurring in the industry, including transitions to the 5th generation mobile network (5G) and Android™ operating system in mobile computing and transitions in data capture to technologies involving 2D and 3D imaging and RFID, among others. This includes increased focus on market segments and geographies that offer share-gain opportunities. In addition, we plan to leverage our market-leading installed base to accelerate growth in attach-oriented offerings, including services, supplies, accessories, and software applications. Our global channel partner network is vital to helping us achieve these goals. As such, we will ensure that we provide the necessary value and support for our partners to be successful.

Advance our Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision

Our EAI vision is for every asset and front-line worker to be connected, visible, and fully optimized. We believe that secular technology trends, particularly in IoT, cloud computing, automation, mobility, and artificial intelligence advance our vision and are transforming our customers’ businesses and our industry, providing us with significant new opportunities to create value for our customers and for the Company. We expect to capitalize on these trends, and in particular the proliferation of smart connected sensors and devices in our core market segments, by providing end-to-end solutions that integrate these sensors and devices with cloud-based workflows and analytics applications. We plan to continue investing in the development of technologies that will enable intelligent solutions, providing increased visibility into the enterprise, real-time, actionable information, and improved customer experiences. Our solutions will also increasingly include advanced features, functions, and user experiences to drive additional competitive differentiation and elevate our role as a solutions provider.

Increase our opportunity for growth through expansion in adjacent market segments

We plan to drive growth through expansion, organically and inorganically, in adjacent market segments that are synergistic with our core markets. We will focus specifically on segments where our products and solutions, workflow expertise, and customer and industry relationships will enable us to provide significant value to end-users.

Enhance financial strength and flexibility

While maintaining our strong balance sheet, we intend to continue to improve profitability and cash flow generation through operational execution and increased productivity derived from continuous business process improvement, supply chain resiliency, cost management, and focus on working capital efficiency.

Sustainable business model

Zebra’s ESG priorities of human capital management, resource conservation, and climate align with our strategic focus and corporate values. Initiatives within these priorities are advanced by our cross-functional Sustainability Council, with executive sponsorship and board oversight. Our approach helps to ensure that our business is sustainable over the long term for the benefit of our primary stakeholder groups, including employees, customers, partners, and investors. We are driving a high-performance, inclusive and diverse culture, striving to consistently be the employer of choice in the communities where we work and live. We also focus on waste reduction, circular economy product innovation with certified refurbished devices, eco-packaging and sustainable product design. Additionally, we have science-based targets on carbon emission reductions in Zebra’s operations and throughout our value chain.

Competition

We operate in a highly competitive environment. The need for companies to improve productivity and implement their strategies, as well as the secular trends around IoT, cloud computing, automation, and mobility, are some of the factors that are creating growth opportunities for established and new competitors.

Key competitive factors include the breadth and quality of products, solutions and services, as well as pricing, design, performance, durability, geographic availability, warranty coverage, relationships with customers and channel partners, company reputation, and brand recognition. We believe we compete effectively with respect to these factors.

Mobile Computing: Competitors in mobile computing and related services include companies that have historically served enterprises with ruggedized devices. For some applications, we compete with companies that provide tablets and smart phones. Competitors include: Datalogic, Honeywell, and Panasonic.

Data Capture, Fixed Industrial Scanning, and Machine Vision: Competitors that provide a broad portfolio of barcode scanning products and related services that are suitable for most global market applications include Datalogic and Honeywell. We also compete against smaller companies that focus on limited product subsets or specific regions, including Newland and Impinj. Competitors in our fixed industrial scanning and machine vision business include Cognex, SICK, and Keyence.

Barcode and Card Printing: We consider our direct competition in printing to be producers of on-demand thermal transfer and direct thermal label fixed and mobile printing systems and RFID printers/encoders. We also compete with companies engaged in the design, manufacture, and marketing of printing systems that use technologies such as ink-jet, direct marking and laser printing, as well as card printers based on ink-jet, thermal transfer, embossing, film-based systems, encoders, laser engraving, and large-scale dye sublimation printers. In addition, service bureaus, which provide centralized services, compete for end-user business and provide an alternative to our card printing solutions. Competitors include: Fargo Electronics (a unit of HID Global), Honeywell, Sato, Toshiba TEC, TSC, Brother, and Dymo.

Supplies: The supplies industry is highly fragmented with competition comprised of numerous companies of various sizes around the world.

RFID and RTLS Offerings: We compete with numerous companies operating in this market including Impinj, Chainway, Alien, Rodinbell, JADAK, Ubisense, and Invengo.

Workflow optimization solutions: We compete with a diverse and varied group of companies across our solution offerings worldwide. Competitors range from providers of software-based solutions serving customers in the retail industry to providers of autonomous mobile robot solutions serving customers in the manufacturing, distribution, and fulfillment industries.

Customers

End-users of our products, solutions and services are diversified across a wide variety of industries. We have three customers, who are distributors of the Company’s products and solutions, that individually accounted for more than 10% of our Net sales during the past three years. No other customer accounted for more than 10% of our Net sales during these years. See Note 20, Segment Information & Geographic Data in the Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements for further information.

Our Net sales to significant customers as a percentage of the Company’s total Net sales were approximately:

Year Ended December 31,
202320222021
Customer A18%21%22%
Customer B14%15%14%
Customer C12%13%13%

Sales and Marketing

Sales: We sell our products and services primarily through distributors (two-tier distribution), value added resellers (“VARs”), independent software vendors (“ISVs”), direct marketers, and OEMs, and our software solutions primarily through our direct sales force. We also sell our products and services directly to a select number of customers through our direct sales force. Distributors purchase our products and sell to VARs, ISVs and others, thereby increasing the distribution of our products globally. VARs, ISVs, OEMs, and systems integrators provide end users with a variety of hardware, accessories, software applications, and services. VARs and ISVs typically customize solutions for specific end-user applications using their industry, systems, and applications expertise. Some OEMs resell Zebra-manufactured products and solutions under their own brands as part of their own product offerings. Because these sales channels provide specific software, configuration, installation, integration, and support services to end-users within various industry segments, these relationships are highly valued and allow our products to reach end users in a wide array of industries around the world. We believe that the breadth of our distributor and channel partner network is a competitive differentiator and enhances our ability to compete. Finally, we experience some seasonality in sales, depending upon the geographic region and industry served.

Marketing: Our marketing function aligns closely with sales, customer success and product management to market our products and to promote solutions that address the needs of our customers. Marketing is responsible for leading strategic cross-functional practices which benefit the broader organization including pricing, enterprise analytics, customer experience, market sizing, brand strategy and channel strategy. From a more traditional sense, the marketing organization is also comprised of regional

marketing teams that interface closely with customers, partners, and sellers; plus teams that support external communications, product marketing, digital marketing, marketing operations, and business intelligence functions.

Manufacturing and Outsourcing

Final assembly of our hardware products is performed by third-parties, including electronics manufacturing services companies (“EMSs”) and joint design manufacturers (“JDMs”). Our products are currently produced in facilities primarily located in the Asia-Pacific region, including China, Taiwan, Vietnam, and Malaysia, as well as Mexico and Brazil. The EMSs and JDMs produce our products to our design specifications. We maintain control over portions of the supply chain, including supplier selection and price negotiations for key components. The manufacturers generally purchase all the components and subassemblies used in the production of our products. Our products are shipped to regional distribution centers, operated by third party logistics providers or the Company. A portion of products are reconfigured at the distribution centers through firmware downloads, packaging, and customer specific customization before they are shipped to customers. In addition, certain products are manufactured in accordance with procurement regulations and various international trade agreements and remain eligible for sale to the U.S. government.

Production facilities for our supplies products are located in the U.S. and Western Europe. We also supplement our in-house supplies production capabilities with third-party manufacturers, principally located in Asia-Pacific.

Repair services for our products are performed by either our own operations or through third-parties, with repair service hubs located in each of the regions in which we serve our customers.

Research and Development

The Company devotes significant resources to developing innovative solutions for our target markets and ensuring that our products, solutions, and services maintain high levels of reliability and provide value to end-users. Research and development expenditures for the years ended 2023, 2022 and 2021 were $519 million, $570 million and $567 million, or 11.3%, 9.9% and 10.1% of Net sales, respectively. Worldwide, we have employed approximately 2,800 engineers and innovation and design experts, who along with contractors, are focused on strengthening and broadening our extensive portfolio of products and solutions.

Intellectual Property

We rely on a combination of trade secrets, patents, trademarks, copyrights, and contractual rights to establish and protect our innovations, and hold a large portfolio of intellectual property rights in the U.S. and other countries. As of December 31, 2023, the Company owned approximately 1,800 trademark registrations and trademark applications, and approximately 6,800 patents and patent applications, worldwide.

We believe that our intellectual property will continue to provide us with a competitive advantage in our product areas as well as provide leverage for future technologies. Our success depends more upon our extensive know-how, deep understanding of end-user processes and work-flows, innovative culture, technical leadership and marketing and sales abilities. Although we do not rely only on patents or other intellectual property rights to protect or establish our market position, we will enforce our intellectual property rights when and where appropriate.

Human Capital

As of December 31, 2023, the Company had approximately 9,750 employees globally, with a majority in sales and technical roles. Our employees work in 55 countries with a majority of our employees located outside of the U.S. Some portions of our business, primarily in Europe, China, and India, are subject to labor laws that differ significantly from those in the U.S. In Europe, for example, it is common for a works council to represent employees when discussing matters such as compensation, benefits, restructurings, and layoffs.

The Company is committed to attracting, developing, and retaining talent to enable our strategic vision and purpose. This commitment directly shapes our approach to fostering a culture of inclusion and diversity to drive innovation and enables employees to reach their potential.

We believe that our strong Company culture is a key contributor to our success. In 2023 we refreshed our company values, which are Lead through Innovation; Deliver Excellence with Agility; Think and Act Customer First; Succeed as One; and Make a Positive Impact. Together, we create new ways of working that make everyday life better for organizations, their employees and those they serve. Employee engagement within the Company is consistently high with the most recent measures scoring above relevant benchmarks for technology companies. Furthermore, as recognition of the Company’s strong culture and commitment to its employees, the Company was ranked #66 on Newsweek’s list of Global Most Loved Workplaces, #5 on Fast Company’s list of the Best Workplaces for Innovators, and was Great Place to Work-Certified™ in 2023.

The wellbeing of our employees remains a core focus. We have benefits that demonstrate our commitment, including zDay, (a paid, Company-wide day off for all eligible Zebra employees), summer hours, and Focus Fridays to encourage meeting-free

time on Friday afternoons. In 2023 we launched our new Employee Experience Community, where employees from around the globe provide their input to improve people-related programs.

Talent Development

Zebra is committed to creating an environment that fosters continuous learning. We believe that effective career development happens when employees and managers have open discussions regarding their development plans and the best way to use available resources to support their learning and development.

All Zebra employees have access to the Zebra Education Network, an online learning platform, offering a wide variety of learning and development resources. Employees are able to make choices around their development with broad access to learning content and can connect this to their individual development plans. We also offer annual training and certification programs for all employees globally, including mandatory compliance training.

We offer ample employee development opportunities and have expanded these offerings through our Global Learning and Leadership Roadmap (“Roadmap”) in 2023. The Roadmap reflects Zebra’s enterprise-wide development programs and is supplemented through various functional and business unit offerings, focused on functional development needs. The Roadmap invites all employees to participate in their development at any stage of their career. A highlight of our program offerings includes Zebra Foundations, a course designed to help all new employees learn about Zebra, our vision, purpose, culture and values, and understand resources available, all taught through hands-on, gamified learning experiences and interactive presentations. We also offer Zebra’s Leadership Essentials, which is designed specifically for employees new to leading others and fosters their leadership and management skill development. This course focuses on values, team engagement, coaching and feedback, delegation and development, and performance management and innovation.

For more senior management, Zebra offers a series of leadership programs and experiences, designed to advance the development of leaders at critical stages of their careers. Senior leaders in Zebra nominate specific candidates for these leadership programs. We connect nominations for these programs to our annual talent review and succession planning process. Our comprehensive talent review includes the assessment of our future leadership pipeline and skills needed to proactively develop employees for the future. Regular talent discussions are held by Executive Leadership to align on critical planning activities and now include a review of the leadership development alumni and progress of prior participants of our nominated leadership development programs.

Inclusion & Diversity

Our vision is to leverage a diverse workforce where employees can bring their best selves to work and to be an inclusive workspace where all employees are seen, heard, valued, and respected. We believe an inclusive and diverse workforce increases Zebra’s innovation, and drives employee development and engagement. Our current aspirations for diverse representation are to increase the representation of women globally, and ethnic racial minority groups across the total organization. These aspirations also include increased representation for both groups for leadership roles (director level and above). To support these aspirations, we routinely review our progress through inclusion survey scores, ERG engagement, diversity of candidate slates, succession plans, and voluntary turnover, which drive shared accountability across the organization. Additionally, we partner with outreach organizations (Disability:IN, Hispanic Alliance for Career Enhancement (HACE), and Hiring our Heroes (HOH)) to expand our talent acquisition reach to historically underrepresented groups.

We will continue to focus on the development and retention of talent that creates opportunities for progress toward our aspirations. Our Company-wide 4C Framework will also continue to guide our Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) strategy, encouraging all employees to contribute to I&D in ways meaningful to them and their work at Zebra:

  • Culture: Advancing culture of belonging through continuous learning.

  • Career: Providing insights to inspire curiosity for progress and individual advancement.

  • Community: Connecting actions in the community with our philanthropy philosophy.

  • Customer: Advancing customer relationships through shared I&D aspirations.

Our focus on I&D continues through the expansion of our Employee Resource Groups (ERGs), now with over 20% employee membership across the globe. With two new ERGs in 2023, we now have nine employee-led ERGs, along with an employee-led sustainability network, that are pivotal to our culture of inclusion and are aligned with our 4C model. All of our ERGs are sponsored by members of our Executive Leadership Team. Our I&D Advisory Council, comprised of Executive Leadership Team members and leaders of our ERGs, oversees our strategy, governance, and progress against aspirations for an inclusive culture and diverse representation at Zebra. We proactively collaborate with our ERG leaders, members, and allies to support and deliver continuous learning, with input provided to refresh our Inclusive Leadership training and Connect through Inclusion Workshops.

Our employees actively participate in volunteering activities, supported through our Zebra Gives programs. In 2023 our employee volunteerism (measured by use of volunteer paid time off) increased by 30% over 2022. Through our community partnerships, our employees leverage their talents and experience to have a positive impact on important community causes and outreach, including advancing STEM education along with our I&D vision. Through partnerships to advance STEM, we

sponsor educational events, mentor teams and individuals, and pilot programs to widen Zebra’s future talent pipeline. Our philanthropy focus extends to Healthcare and Disaster Relief where we maintain relationships with key strategic partners.

In addition, we benchmark and learn from a network of organizations through our membership of the Alliance for Global Inclusion, where we also participate in the Alliance Index to inform our internal I&D strategy. In 2023 Zebra received a perfect score of 100 in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index, the foremost benchmarking survey and report measuring how U.S.-based companies promote LGBTQ+ workplace equality through corporate policies, benefits, and practices. We intend to continue participating in such indices into 2024 to inform the choices we make on inclusive policies and practices.

Regulatory Matters

Wireless Regulatory Matters

Our business is subject to certain wireless regulatory matters. The use of wireless voice, data, and video communications systems requires radio spectrum, which is regulated by government agencies throughout the world. In the U.S., the Federal Communications Commission (“FCC”) and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (“NTIA”) regulate spectrum use by non-federal entities and federal entities, respectively. Similarly, countries around the world have one or more regulatory bodies that define and implement the rules for use of the radio spectrum, pursuant to their respective national laws and international coordination under the International Telecommunications Union. We manufacture and market products in spectrum bands already made available by regulatory bodies, these include voice and data infrastructure, mobile radios, and portable or hand-held devices. Consequently, our results of operations could be positively or negatively affected by the rules and regulations adopted from time-to-time by the FCC, NTIA, or regulatory agencies in other countries. Our products operate both on the licensed and unlicensed spectrum. The availability of additional radio spectrum may provide new business opportunities, and consequently, the loss of available radio spectrum may result in the loss of business opportunities. Regulatory changes in current spectrum bands may also provide opportunities or may require modifications to some products so they can continue to be manufactured and marketed.

Other Regulatory Matters

Some of our operations use substances regulated under various federal, state, local, and international laws governing the environment and worker health and safety, including those governing the discharge of pollutants into the ground, air and water, the management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes and the cleanup of contaminated sites. Certain products are subject to various federal, state, local, and international laws governing chemical substances in electronic products. During 2023, compliance with U.S. federal, state and local, and foreign laws regulating the discharge of materials into the environment, or otherwise relating to the protection of the environment did not have a material effect on our business or results of operations.

Available Information

Our website address is www.zebra.com. The information on our website is not, and shall not be deemed to be, a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or incorporated into any other filings we make with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, are made available free of charge on the Investor Relations page of our website as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file them with or furnish them to the SEC.

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