The three major POS industrialists already anticipate the industry structure is evolving and their supremacy as hardware manufacturers is threatened. 2009 events and results clearly show Tier 1 vendors are getting away from the pure hardware business. Ingenico just published its 2009 sales, showing that the easycash payment processing business the company acquired recently will represent around 15% of the company global sales in the near future (cf. Payment section in this issue). Hypercom recently launched Phoenix Managed Networks (cf. Smart Insights Weekly #10-02) to develop data communications services for the payment industry, and Verifone is developing its taxi terminal business to the extent the company acquired the media management business from Clear Channel advertising company (cf. SIW #10-02).

Tier 3 vendors have less strategic vision than the Tier 1 ones, they have a lower expertise level, and for the time being, they have not set up means for a global market reach, but they generally master manufacturing, thus can propose lower-priced products. As most of these Tier 3 vendors are located in Asia, mainly in mainland China, they benefit from a rapidly growing regional market. This growth will make them always more aggressive on international markets while they increase their level of technical expertise and strategic vision. Smart Insights new Smart Insights Report “Greater China POS Terminal Offer 2010" covers all payment terminal manufacturers from the Greater China Region. It is an essential tool to understand their current positioning and offer, and to anticipate their future strategy.

So to anticipate further changes in the payment terminal industry structure, and to make the best decisions, all stakeholders in the payment terminal industry should be interested in “Greater China POS Terminal Offer 2010" Smart Insights Report. All details are available on our website.

The payment terminal industry is on the verge of huge changes. To ensure you will catch all details of these changes, you need Smart Insights Weekly, and our Smart Insights Reports.

Thierry Spanjaard

Chief Editor

Smart Insights Weekly