MANILA, Philippines - Berg Insight forecasts that the number of cellular M2M (mobile-to-mobile) connections in the global retail industry will grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.6 percent during the next five years to reach 33.3 million connections in 2018. The number of cellular M2M connections in the retail industry reached 18.4 million worldwide in 2013. Cellular M2M technology enables devices such as point-of-sale (POS) terminals, automated teller machines (ATMs) and ticketing machines to be used at new locations where fixed line connectivity is unavailable or impractical. The technology has a more transformational effect on markets such as vending and parking, where machine operators need to reorganize their operations in order to benefit from the availability of real-time information. Shipments of cellular M2M devices for retail applications will at the same time increase at a CAGR of 6.5 percent from 6.6 million units in 2013 to 9.1 million units in 2018.
POS terminals constitute the largest device segment and accounted for almost 90 percent of all cellular M2M connections in the retail industry at the end of 2013. The market for wirelessly connected POS terminals is however relatively mature, and most of the market growth is driven by the increasing use of electronic payments in emerging markets.