FRANKLIN, Tenn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 9, 2005-- The PC-based point-of-sale (POS) terminal market in North America continued to boom in 2004 with 12 percent annual unit growth and spending of $6.5 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 specialty stores, table service restaurants, and super centers," 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 retail industry will increase its POS purchases in 2005 over 2004 as retailers 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 from Dell and HP entering the market. These are just some of the findings from IHL's new market study, "2005 North American Retail POS Terminal Market Study", which is available immediately.

Additional findings include:

• Shipments of Linux-based POS units increased 34 percent year to year but still represent only 6 percent of the overall market. This is expected to rise dramatically in future years.
  
  
• Shipments of Windows 2000/XP-based terminals represented 56 percent of the overall market. Windows 9x/CE represented another 15 percent of the shipments for a total of 71 percent of the market.

"Across every segment of the industry, retailers 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, retailer's budgets have been unlocked, and retailers want to use their dollars to update, upgrade and move to next-generation technologies. POS systems and self-checkout systems are where most of the IT budgets for retailers are going the next two years."

IHL's "2005 North American Retail POS Terminal Study" reviews the shipments and installed base of POS terminals sold into retailers in North America. It includes market shipment and installed base figures, market value, situation analysis for 10 retail market segments, overall trends affecting the POS market, and forecasts through 2009.

This is the first of a series of studies prepared by IHL Consulting Group in conjunction with The Association of Retail Technology Standards (ARTS), a National Retail Federation retailer-driven membership organization dedicated to creating an international, barrier-free technology environment for retailers. ARTS was established in 1993 to ensure that technology works to enhance a retailer's ability to develop store level business solutions and avoid situations that limit a retailers' ability to implement change while providing industry standards designed to provide greater value at lower costs. More information is at www.nrf-arts.org..

ABOUT IHL CONSULTING GROUP
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.

PRESS CONTACTS
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