Installed Base of Cellular POS Terminals to Reach 229 Million in 2028

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.

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% 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% 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% 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.