Electronic POS Shipments to Europe Jump 8 Percent in 2004

In the late 1990s, a large number of retailers in Europe had upgraded their POS equipment to address the year 2000 technology bug glitch, as well as the introduction of the Euro. This left retail technology purchases flat from 2000 through 2002. In 2003, POS shipments to the large format food, hypermarket, specialty and hospitality segments began to increase and in 2004 they were even stronger. This is just one finding from the IHL market study, 2005 Europe, Middle East & Africa Retail Point-of-Sale Terminals, which is available immediately. Additional findings include: - The United Kingdom is seeing significant growth in retail sales overall, as well as retail technology purchases. In contrast, Germany remains sluggish thanks to high taxes, a stagnant economy and restrictive shopping hours. - In Europe, Microsoft is increasing its dominance of the retail technology marketplace. In 2004, Microsoft Windows NT/2000/XP was the clear shipment leader, making up 56 percent of POS shipments. - Although it was created in Europe, Linux POS has gained only moderate acceptance in the region with only 5 percent of shipments in 2004. However, a significant number of current DOS users will likely consider Linux in the future. The report covers point-of-sale findings in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, with key insights into nine specific geographic regions.