The world is continuously shifting from coin and paper-based payments such as cash and cheques to electronic forms such as payment cards and mobile phone payments. This development accelerated in the past years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a part of this evolution, POS terminals are becoming more and more common in all parts of the world.
The global installed base of POS terminals grew to almost 292 million units in 2023. Market growth is primarily fuelled by the increasing adoption of electronic payments in emerging markets. Developed markets are relatively saturated in terms of POS terminal adoption. In addition, the mPOS terminal market is today still growing and the research forecasts that the installed base of mPOS terminals worldwide will grow from 110 million units in 2023 to reach 152 million units by 2028.
The installed base of cellular POS terminals to reach 229 million in 2028
Cellular connectivity has become a very popular option for POS terminals and was incorporated in 53 percent of the devices shipped in 2023. The wireless technology has an important role in facilitating the global adoption of electronic payments, as it enables the rollout of POS terminals to many new market segments and parts of the world where the fixed line telecommunications infrastructure is less developed. The installed base of cellular POS terminals reached 146.1 million in 2023.
The research forecasts a CAGR of 9.4 percent between 2023 and 2028, resulting in a total of 229.3 million cellular POS terminals at the end of the forecast period. The market for NFC-ready POS terminals continued to display strong momentum in 2023 with annual shipments reaching an estimated 110.7 million units worldwide. The attach rate for NFC was highest in Europe and North America, where 99 percent of the POS terminals shipped featured NFC. NFC was also a very popular feature in many other major markets worldwide including Brazil, Turkey and China. The Android POS terminal category has become very popular lately.
About 40 percent of the POS terminals sold in 2023 were Android POS terminals. The top manufacturers of Android smart POS devices were Sunmi, Tianyu, Pax Technology, Verifone, Castles Technology, Ingenico, Landi and Newland Payment Technology. SoftPOS is a new growth POS category and is a type of software-based payment system that enables merchants to accept debit and credit card payments using a tablet or smartphone. The number of smartphones running SoftPOS is still less than 10 million.
Highlights from the report
- Detailed analysis of the payments industry.
- Summary of the latest industry trends and developments.
- Updated in-depth profiles of key players in the POS and mPOS terminal market.
- Reviews of vendor market shares and competitive dynamics.
- Perspectives on the impact of mobile wallet services.
- Extensive global and regional market forecasts lasting until 2028
This report answers the following questions
- What is the potential market size for cellular IoT communication in the retail industry?
- Which trends and developments are shaping the market?
- How many smart Android POS terminals shipped in the past year?
- How will emerging mobile wallet services affect the market?
- What is the attach rate for cellular connectivity in POS terminals by region?
- What are the market shares for the leading POS terminal vendors?
Table of Contents
Executive Summary
Companies Mentioned (Partial List)
A selection of companies mentioned in this report includes, but is not limited to:
- Anfu
- BBPOS
- Bitel
- Castles Technology
- Centerm
- Datecs
- Dspread Technology
- Dynamicode
- Equinox Payments
- Fiserv
- ID Tech
- Ingenico
- Itron Electronics
- JTact
- Landi
- MoreFun
- New POS
- Nexgo (Xinguodu)
- PAX Technology
- Sunmi
- SZZT Electronics
- Tianyu
- TopWise
- Trendit
- UIC Payments
- Vanstone Electronic
- VeriFone
