Linux leads point-of-sale OS growth, but faces obstacles

Linux was the fastest growing operating system in the point-of-sale (POS) terminal market in 2003, according to a study by IHL Consulting Group.
However, Linux’s market share is still quite small, and adoption has slowed since Microsoft released Windows XP Embedded (XPe) launched on Nov. 28,
2001, IHL says.

The number of POS terminals running Linux increased 35% in 2003, according to the IHL study, with Windows 2000/XPe close behind at 27% growth.
However, Linux’s installed base is about a tenth that of Windows 2000/XPe, IHL says.

IHL analyst Greg Buzuk says, “We expect to see strong growth of Linux for several years, but this is not necessarily good news for POS vendors. The
retailers most likely to use Linux for the future are those retailers that currently run DOS on their POS systems and want to continue to keep their
same hardware going forward.”