The installed base of cellular-connected PoS terminals will reach 189 million in 2027, according to market watcher Berg Insights.

Cellular connectivity has become a popular option for PoS terminals and was incorporated in 52 per cent 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 137.8 million in 2023. Berg forecasts a CAGR of 8.2 per cent between 2023 and 2027, resulting in a total of 188.9 million cellular PoS terminals at the end of the forecast period.

Berg projects at the same time that the global installed base of NFC-ready PoS terminals will see a CAGR of 7.8 per cent from 235.1 million units in 2023 to 317.9 million in 2027. As a result, more than 95 per cent of the world’s PoS terminals will be NFC-ready in 2027, up from 85 per cent in 2023.

“The Android PoS terminal category has become very popular lately,” said Johan Fagerberg, principal analyst at Berg Insight. “About a third of the PoS terminals sold in 2023 were Android PoS terminals.”

The mPoS terminal market is growing at about the same rate as the traditional PoS terminal segment; mPoS is the use of consumer-oriented mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones that function as a point-of-sale terminal to facilitate payment card transactions through a connection to a card-accepting reader.

The global installed base of mPoS terminals totalled an estimated 109.9 million units in 2023. The installed base of NFC-ready mPoS terminals grew to 79.1 million units during the same year as NFC penetration reached 72 per cent worldwide.

Berg projects the installed base of NFC-ready mPoS terminals will see a CAGR of 12.3 per cent between 2023 and 2027 to reach 125.9 million units worldwide. This corresponds to a penetration rate of 88 per cent in 2027.

“Today, the mPoS device segment has also started to face competition from soft PoS options,” said Fagerberg. “Soft PoS technology allows businesses to accept payments via a standard iOS or Android device.”

For more on the report, see media.berginsight.com/2024/05/22215654/bi-pos7-ps.pdf.