The PC-based point-of-sale (POS) terminal market for North American restaurateurs and hospitality providers continued to boom in 2004 with 11 percent annual unit growth and spending of $2.9 billion on POS hardware, software and services, according to a new study released today by IHL Consulting Group. POS spending is expected to be even bigger in 2005, says the report.
"2004 was an outstanding year of unit growth for vendors, particularly in table service restaurants and quick service/fast food restaurants," said Greg Buzek, president of IHL Consulting Group, a research and advisory firm that serves retailers and retail technology vendors. "Looking ahead, our research indicates that every segment of the hospitality industry will increase its POS purchases in 2005 over 2004 as hospitality providers upgrade to more reliable and easier to use systems."
According to Buzek, revenue growth was also strong but not as high as unit growth due to the lower price point of PC systems in the market. These are just some of the findings from IHL's new market study, "2005 North American Hospitality Point-of-Sale Terminals Market Study," which is available immediately. Cost is $1,495.
Additional findings include:
-- Shipments of Linux-based POS units increased 73 percent year to year but still represent only 4 percent of the overall market. This is expected to rise dramatically in future years.
-- Shipments of Windows 2000/XP-based terminals represented 70 percent of the overall market. Windows 9x/CE represented another 22 percent of the shipments for a total of 92 percent of the market.
"Across every segment of the industry, hospitality providers are poised to make technology decisions that will have a major impact on the marketplace, creating a steady stream of opportunity for POS vendors over the next two to three years," Buzek said. "Although sometimes begrudgingly, hospitality provider's budgets have been unlocked, and they want to use their dollars to update, upgrade and move to next-generation technologies."
IHL's "2005 North American Hospitality Point-of-Sale Terminal Market Study" reviews the shipments and installed base of POS terminals sold into restaurants and hospitality providers in North America. It includes market shipment and installed base figures, market value, situation analysis for five hospitality market segments, overall trends affecting the POS market, and forecasts through 2009.
IHL Consulting Group is a global research and advisory firm headquartered in Franklin, Tenn., that provides market analysis and business consulting services for retailers and information technology companies that focus on the retail industry. For more information, see http://www.ihlservices.com, call 615-591-2955 or send e-mail to ihl@ihlservices.com.
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