ABOUT STERLING MOBILE SERVICES
Phoenix, Arizona · Since 2004
- Free 90-Day Warranty
- 5 In-House Technicians
- 20+ Brands, 100s of Models
- Phoenix, AZ Repair Depot
- Nationwide Ship-In
- Updated August 18, 2026
Sterling Mobile Services buys, sells, repairs and rents barcode scanners, mobile computers and label printers from a single depot in Phoenix, Arizona. We have done this one thing since 2004. Every repair is performed in-house by our own five technicians, and every unit that leaves the building — repaired or refurbished — carries a free 90-day warranty.
Most companies in this industry either sell hardware or fix it. We do both, plus rentals and buybacks, which means we can tell a customer honestly when a repair is not worth the money. That is a different conversation than one you get from a business that only profits when you buy something new.
What We Actually Do
Four service lines run through the same Phoenix building, and most customers use more than one of them over time. A fleet that ships units in for repair this quarter often rents replacements during a peak week and sells us its retired hardware the following year.
| Service | What it covers | Who it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Repair | Scanners, mobile computers, vehicle-mount terminals and label printers — flat-rate or per-incident, no maintenance contract required | Fleets with hardware down, in or out of manufacturer support |
| Refurbished sales | Fully stripped, cleaned, re-parted and tested to manufacturer specifications — typically 25–50% below the cost of new | Operations replacing failed units or standardising a fleet |
| Rentals | Short-term and long-term, shipped nationwide | Inventory counts, seasonal peaks, gaps while units are on the bench |
| Buyback | Purchase of surplus and used barcode and scanning equipment, including printers | Anyone retiring or migrating a fleet, working or not |
Nationwide customers ship units in. Phoenix-area businesses drop off and collect in person. Both routes reach the same bench and the same technicians.
Who Runs Sterling Mobile
Sterling Mobile is led by its founder, who worked in barcode hardware for eleven years before starting the company — so the depot was built by someone who already knew what breaks and why.
Michael Jephson
President & Founder · Sterling Mobile Services, Inc.
Michael founded Sterling Mobile Services in Phoenix in 2004. Before that he spent eleven years at Ryzex, one of the larger barcode hardware resellers and refurbishers in the market, working in sales from 1993 to 2004. That is more than three decades in automatic identification and data capture, across the entire arc of the industry — from Symbol and Telxon-era hardware, through the Motorola and Intermec consolidations, to today's Zebra and Honeywell Android fleets.
He is based at the Phoenix depot and is reachable directly. Customers who have dealt with the company for years tend to mention that specifically: it is a small enough business that the person who owns it still answers the phone. Connect with Michael on LinkedIn.
Inside the Phoenix Depot
Every repair happens in one building at 5631 S 24th Street, and nothing is outsourced to a third-party bench. Our five in-house technicians service more than 20 brands and hundreds of models, which matters most on the hardware manufacturers have stopped supporting — there is no depot to send it to when the manufacturer will not take it.
Each unit runs the same four-stage process before it goes back:
- Teardown. The unit comes apart so the actual fault can be seen rather than inferred from the symptom.
- Cleaning. Dust, adhesive residue and corrosion get removed before any part is judged failed — a meaningful share of "dead" hardware is contaminated, not broken.
- Part replacement. Only what genuinely failed, quoted and approved before the work starts.
- Testing to manufacturer specifications. The unit has to perform to the original spec, not merely power on.
The depot sits in the South Phoenix industrial corridor minutes from Sky Harbor, on the I-10 logistics spine. Businesses across Phoenix, Tempe, Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale and Glendale drop off and collect directly, which removes both freight legs and, through an Arizona summer, keeps hardware out of an un-airconditioned delivery truck. Everyone else ships in from anywhere in the US using our repair packing list. More detail on the facility is on our barcode repair depot page.
Why Arizona is hard on this hardware
In non-climate-controlled warehouses along the I-10 and Loop 202 corridors, summer temperatures routinely exceed what these devices are rated for, and fine dust bonds to scan windows and works into charging contacts and connector seals. We see contact corrosion and window hazing at rates that surprise operators who moved fleets here from cooler climates. It is a large part of why a local depot is worth having.
Brands and Hardware We Service
We work across the full history of the industry, not just current-generation hardware — which is the point, because most warehouses run a mix of both. A single site can easily have Android units bought last year sitting alongside Windows CE terminals from a decade ago, and both still have to scan.
| Category | Brands serviced |
|---|---|
| Current generation | Zebra, Honeywell, Datalogic, Sato |
| Absorbed into Zebra | Motorola, Symbol, Telxon, Psion Teklogix |
| Absorbed into Honeywell | Intermec, LXE, Hand Held Products (HHP), Metrologic, Datamax-O'Neil |
| Hardware types | Handheld scanners, mobile computers, vehicle-mount terminals, wearables, industrial and desktop label printers, mobile printers, POS printers |
If a device says Intermec, LXE, Symbol or Telxon on it, the brand no longer exists but the hardware is still repairable. Our Honeywell end-of-life repair page covers which families have passed manufacturer end of service, and our barcode scanner repair page covers the repair programs themselves.
How We Stand Behind the Work
Every repair and every refurbished unit carries a free 90-day warranty, with no maintenance contract required to get it. Beyond that baseline, three programs cover different buying patterns:
- Single-tier flat rate. One price covers the overwhelming majority of repairs on your equipment, so a pre-approved purchase order can skip the quote-and-approve cycle entirely.
- Two-tier rates. A basic level for minor repairs and parts, and a comprehensive level covering major components — your cost tracks how hard you actually run the hardware.
- Sterling Mobile Complete Care. Maintenance coverage on refurbished hardware for up to three years, at an annual price per device.
Full terms are on our warranty and returns page. Pricing is always quoted and approved before work begins — you will not receive an invoice for something you did not agree to.
Where Else You'll Find Us
Alongside this site we have sold barcode hardware on eBay for years, and that storefront is a useful independent record of how we deal with customers. Our eBay store currently shows 100% positive feedback across more than 9,600 items sold — a public, third-party-hosted trading history that we do not control the display of.
You can also read reviews on our Google Business Profile and follow the company on LinkedIn.
About Sterling Mobile FAQs
How long has Sterling Mobile Services been in business?
Sterling Mobile Services was founded in Phoenix in 2004 by Michael Jephson, who had already spent eleven years in barcode hardware before starting the company. We have operated from the same line of business ever since — buying, selling, servicing and renting barcode scanners, mobile computers and printers.
Do you repair equipment in-house or send it out?
Everything is repaired in-house. We have five dedicated technicians working at our Phoenix depot, and no repair work is outsourced to a third-party bench. That is why we can quote flat-rate pricing and give a straight answer on turnaround — the equipment never leaves our control.
Do you only serve Arizona, or the whole country?
Both. Refurbished sales, buybacks and ship-in repairs are nationwide, and rentals ship anywhere in the US. Phoenix-metro businesses across Tempe, Chandler, Mesa, Scottsdale and Glendale drop off and collect in person instead of shipping. For heavy industrial printers, freight cost often makes a regional depot the more sensible option, and we will tell you plainly when that is the case.
Can you service hardware the manufacturer no longer supports?
Yes — that is a significant part of what we do. Once a model passes manufacturer end of service, the brand stops accepting it and repair moves to independent depots. We continue servicing legacy Intermec, LXE, Symbol, Motorola, Telxon, Hand Held Products and Metrologic hardware. If parts are genuinely unobtainable for your unit, we will say so and quote a refurbished replacement instead.
Will you buy our old barcode equipment?
Yes. Our buyback program purchases surplus and used barcode and scanning equipment including printers, working or not. It is often the cleanest way to handle a fleet migration — retiring hardware offsets part of the cost of what replaces it. Details are on our sell your equipment page.
Talk to Someone Who Works on This Hardware
Five in-house technicians, 20+ brands and hundreds of models, and a free 90-day warranty on every repair and every refurbished unit. Send us part numbers and symptoms and you will get pricing before anything starts.
Call (480) 785-4711 → Request a Free Quote Today! →Browse refurbished hardware in stock, look at equipment rentals, or check this month's specials. Existing customers needing help with a configuration rather than a repair should start with tech support.
Phone: (480) 785-4711 · Fax: (480) 785-4717 · info@sterlingmobile.com
5631 S 24th St, Phoenix, AZ 85040
Mon–Fri 8:00 AM – 5:00 PM Arizona time (MST, no daylight saving) · Sat–Sun closed
Last updated: August 18, 2026