Honeywell to Acquire AIDC Provider Intermec

Motorola Solutions® is the largest supplier of automated identification and data collection (AIDC) products, with a market share of over 40%. By acquiring Intermec®, Honeywell® will move into a solid second-place position with around 27% market share.

Honeywell entered the AIDC space in late 2007 by acquiring Hand Held Products, a leading maker of handheld mobile computers and imaging equipment, for $390 million. Six months later, Honeywell paid $720 million to acquire Metrologic Instruments, which made barcode scanners, handheld computers, and other AIDC devices. In August 2011, Honeywell paid $491 million for EMS Technologies, which included mobile computer maker LXE. The LXE acquisition gave Honeywell about a 15% share of the AIDC market, moving Honeywell past Intermec (12%) into second place among AIDC vendors.

If Honeywell was already in second place in the AIDC space, then why is Honeywell paying around $600 million for Intermec? According to Honeywell Automation and Control Solutions President Roger Fradin, the Intermec acquisition brings these primary benefits to Honeywell:

• Strengthens Honeywell's core scanning and mobile computing business
• Opens up new opportunities in RFID, voice solutions (from Intermec's Vocollect acquisition), barcode printing, and receipt printing

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