2004 North American Retail POS Printer Market

In this analysis IHL Consulting Group reviews the POS Shipments and Installed Base in the North American Retail market (defined as US and Canada for this report). Specifically, we are analyzing the microprocessors and operating systems that are being used per retail segment, with a focus on key barriers to entry for hardware and software providers. We discuss key trends and market forces that are affecting the buying decisions of retailers in each of the segments. And finally, we discuss overall trends and forecasts for this market for 2003 and beyond.

This is a review of the housed printer market in North America. By definition, this report reviews printers that are sold along side Point-of-Sale (POS) terminals. It does not include integrated printers into POS, Electronic Cash Registers (ECRs), or Electronic Funds Transfer devices (EFT), which we would classify as printer mechanisms. Additionally, we did not review printer shipments associated with banking or kiosk applications.

Printer Definitions Used

At IHL we believe it is important that we state clearly the definitions of what we are classifying as a POS device. For the purposes of our analysis, we are defining POS as PC-based workstations, namely PC-class Processor-based and LAN-available terminals. Although others might include Electronic Funds Terminals as POS, we do not include them here. Perhaps the best definitions come from the use of the current model names of the top vendors that we are including:

Thermal Receipt Printer - Defined as a housed printer sold along side of POS unit that is a single station with a thermal print head. Units shipped in 2002 now include the ability to do two color printing. This is achieved by using special paper that has an effective printer surface at two different temperatures. At one temperature, the unit prints in black. At another temperature it prints in the color of your choice. As the choice is a factor of the unit after it is installed, we do not break out the category in this report. Instead, we discuss two color printing in our trends discussion.

Impact Receipt Printer - Defined as a housed printer sold along side of POS unit that is single station with an impact print head.
Slip Only Printer - Defined as a housed printer sold along side of POS unit that does check validation and wide format printing. Common in bars and restaurants.

Dual Station/Hybrid Printer - Defined as a housed printer sold along side POS unit that has a thermal receipt printer head and an impact slip printer head for slips.

Multi-Station - Defined as a housed printer sold along side POS unit that has multiple impact stations for receipt, journal, and slip printing. This is inclusive of the very popular Three-Station Printer that are still installed in many larger retailers.

InkJet Printers - Defined as a housed printer at the POS that utilizes inkjet printing technology specifically to support color printing. Unlike a desktop Inkjet, this printer is in the size and format of a POS printer.

Distribution Channel Definitions Used

Just as we believe it's important to state clearly the definitions of the printers we want to discuss, so too it's important to state clearly the definitions of the various distribution channels.

Direct to User - Channel by which a printer manufacturer sells directly to the end user retailer.

Through Dealers - Channel by which a printer is sold through a dealer or VAR to the end user where there is likely some bundling with the POS system along with the sale of the printer.

Master Distributor - Channel by which a printer is sold through a major distributor to other dealers. An example of a master distributor would be ScanSource.

OEM through POS Vendor - Channel by which a printer is sold from the printer manufacturer to a POS vendor who may or may not re-brand that printer.