POS Systems in Europe 2005 - etude de marche

The report delivers important market data of the actual market development in total and per segment as well as market forecasts for the following three years.

� The market for POS Systems has recovered from its low in 2002. A growth in value and quantity was observed throughout all regions in Western Europe in 2004. And a further increasing tendency during the years to come is expectable. Technological advancements and the recurring effect of the euro implementation in 2001 are considered to be the main causes for this upswing.

� Producers of POS Systems can draw a deep breath. A growth in quantity of 5,6% in Western Europe (approaching a total of 800.000 systems) in 2004 apparently is just the beginning of coninuously increasing annual growth rates in the near future. The best development is observable in Northern Europe, Spain, and United Kingdom. In these regions quantity growth rates reach up to 9,1%. The worst - but still positive - development was discovered in Italy where the market suffers slightly from the comparable worse economic situation. Also in Germany, France, and Austria the growth in demand for POS Systems in 2004 was below the West-ern European average.

... A slight decline in prices induced growth rates in turnover which are below those realised in quantity. Since this price reduction will weaken slowly, also the development of turnover in Western Europe will be characterized by steadily increasing growth rates.

... As the total number of stores, hotels, service stations, and similar facilities requiring POS Systems is rather declin-ing, the main part of the annual market is made up of substitution of obsolete systems. One driving force effecting such higher replacement rates are technological advancements in produc-ing POS Systems. In the hospitality sector portable solutions are increas-ingly preferred and displace fixed systems. Considering the field of food retailing a new era has just started: Self-checkout Systems are already established in the United States and are expected to conquer the European Market within the next years. The possibility to save labour costs and to assure a fast payment procedure by scanning the goods by the customer itself and paying with credit card appears profitable for the store management.

� Considering the product groups the markets for PC based Systems and for POS Solutions with a self-contained operating system show a good devel-opment in all regions in Western Europe. Constant growing rates above the market average (between 6% and 8%) until 2007 lead to a slowly pro-ceeding displacement of Electronic Cash Registries (ECR). With a decline of 1,2% in quantity in 2004 ECR couldn�t benefit from the upswing of the total market. Only in Spain - where the structure of shops is characterised by a smaller shop size � turnover realised by sales of this cheaper alternative could be increased.

... More than 30% of all systems sold in 2004 were applied in the hospitality sector which consequently is the big-gest application. Especially due to the fact that the tourism sector itself shows a good development (growth of 4,4% in Western Europe in 2004) and new technologies for this segment enter the market, this application is booming during the next years. However, the fastest growing application is textile and shoe retailing. The trend for bigger chains and the tendency that shops in this segment mainly change their systems in favour of touch screens led to a growth in value of 7,6% in 2004.

� The competition in the market for POS Systems is strong. The Top Players, such as IBM, Wincor Nixdorf, NCR, Fujitsu, Sharp, and Toshiba TEC, remain on top of the overall rankings. Their international orientation and broad range of products which are applicable in most of the different segments explain their strong market position. And as the manufacturers obviously do not have to face decreas-ing growth rates in the market for POS Systems, it is up to them to tap the full potential in the future.