China retailers are just starting to adopt electronic point-of-sale terminals, as the number of shipments is expected to surpass those to Germany, Europe's largest POS market, this year

China retailers are just starting to adopt electronic point-of-sale terminals, as the number of shipments is expected to surpass those to Germany, Europe's largest POS market, this year, a consulting firm said. POS shipments increased by nearly 20 percent last year in China, which was the strongest market in the Asia/Pacific region, IHL Consulting Group said. Even though shipments are expected to surpass those to Germany this year, China still presents a very young market, which has less than 2 percent penetration with PC-based POS devices, Greg Buzek, president of IHL, said. "The German installed base is much larger today, but Germany is somewhat tapped out for growth, and the Chinese market is in its infancy," Buzek said in a statement. While retail-hardened POS devices account for most shipments in mature markets, growth in China and most Asian countries is being driven by sales of low-end PC POS devices and PC-on-cash drawer devices, Buzek said. IHL, however, cautioned that software piracy could hold back POS growth in China and other Asian countries. Microsoft Corp.'s Windows operating system dominates the market for POS terminals, and estimates in some Asian countries indicate that more than 80 percent of the OS and application software running on those systems are pirated copies, IHL said.